St. Pio of Pietrelcina
(Padre Pio)
Francesco Forgione (1887 – 1968)
Francesco Forgione was born in the Italian village of Pietrelcina on May 25, 1887 to Giuseppa and Grazio who were poor farmers. He was a pious child who was drawn to the priesthood at an early age. He entered the Capuchin Order at the age of sixteen and received the habit at twenty-five. He was ordained in 1910 and after seven years of study, became known as Padre Pio.
Padre Pio was blessed with many gifts during his long lifetime. At the age of thirty-one, he was kneeling in front of a large crucifix, when he received the stigmata – the same wounds inflicted upon Christ at the time of the crucifixion. Although he experienced numerous health problems during his life, the doctor who examined Padre Pio could find no natural cause for the wounds. The blood oozing from the wounds exuded an unusual fragrance, similar to that of violets.
Possessing the gift of prophecy, Padre Pio accurately predicted that his wounds would heal in fifty years, just shortly before his death. Padre Pio also possessed the gift of bilocation and was able to be physically present in more than one place at a time. Padre Pio was able to read the hearts and souls of those who came to him in Confession and spent hours in the confessional to bring sinners closer to God. He was a gifted spiritual adviser and knew how to counsel and encourage others with his inspiring words.
People from all over the world came to him for both physical and spiritual healing. Miracles were a frequent occurrence in the life of Padre Pio. One of the most significant occurred when he was assigned to Our Lady of Grace friary near the village of San Giovanni Rotondo in the Gargano Mountains, where he would live for the rest of his life. The Lord healed him of the mysterious illnesses that had plagued him for ten years whenever he attempted to live at the other monasteries. Perhaps this was God’s way of drawing him to the place, which he would later transform, into an international spiritual renewal center.
On September 23, 1968, at the age of eighty-one, Padre Pio died. Approximately 100,000 people attended his funeral. On June 16, 2002, Padre Pio was canonized as St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
Messages from St. Pio:
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
“Prayer is the best weapon we possess, the key that opens up the heart of God.”
“You must speak to Jesus also with the heart, besides the lips; indeed in certain cases you must speak to Him only with the heart.”
“Mary is the inspiration of my hope.”
“Let Mary be the reason for all your hopes.”
“Give yourself up into the arms of your heavenly Mother…”
“Devotion to Mary is the ticket to Heaven.”
“Lean on the Cross of Jesus as the Virgin did and you will not be deprived of comfort. Mary was as if paralyzed before her crucified Son, but one cannot say that she was abandoned by Him. Rather how much more did she not love Him when she suffered and could not even weep?”
“At times Our Lord makes you feel the burden of the Cross. This burden seems intolerable to you. But as for you, carry it because Jesus extends His hand and gives you strength.”
“Continue to pray that God may console you when you feel the weight of the Cross is becoming too burdensome. Acting thus you are not doing anything against the Will of God, but are with the Son of God Who, in the garden, asked His father for some relief. But if it does not please Him to do this, be ready to say with Jesus, ‘Fiat!’”
“Let us ascend Calvary, burdened with the Cross but without tiring. And let us be convinced that our ascent will lead us to the heavenly vision of our sweetest Savior.”
“Ahead! Courage! In the Spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens with a boat, which must go ahead. If it stands still the wind will blow it back.”
“The most beautiful credo is that which comes from our lips in darkness, in sacrifice, in pain, in the supreme effort of an unbending will for our good. It is this which, like a stroke of lightning, penetrates the darkness of the soul; it is this which in the flash of the tempest lifts you and leads you to God.”
“Do not worry over things that generate preoccupation, derangement and anxiety. One thing only is necessary: to lift up your spirit and love God.”
“You are suffering, it is true, but with resignation. Fear not because God is with you. You do not offend Him but love Him. You suffer, but believe also that Jesus Himself suffers in you and for you.”
“Always live under the eyes of the Good Shepherd and you will walk unharmed through evil pastures.”
"My heart feels as if it were being drawn by a superior force each morning just before uniting with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. I have such a thirst and hunger before receiving Him that it's a wonder I don't die of anxiety. I was hardly able to reach the Divine Prisoner in order to celebrate Mass. When Mass ended I remained with Jesus to render Him thanks. My thirst and hunger do not diminish after I have received Him in the Blessed Sacrament, but rather, increase steadily. Oh, how sweet was the conversation I held with Paradise this morning. The Heart of Jesus and my own, if you will pardon my expression, fused. They were no longer two hearts beating but only one. My heart disappeared as if it were a drop in the ocean."
© Jean M. Heimann 2004, Excerpt from Gold in the Fire
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