ALL ABOUT SAINT PADRE PIO

Saint Padre Pio was born on May 25th, 1887 in Pietrelcina (Benevento), Italy. In January of 1903, he was admitted to the Novitiate of the Capuchin Order at Morcone. In January, 1904 he pronounced his Simple Vows and moved to Sant'Elia a Pianisi (Campobasso) to begin a course in rhetoric. In January, 1907 friar Pio makes his Solemn Vows.

At the end of October 1907, friar Pio began studying theology at Serracapriola (Foggia). He continues these studies in late 1908 at Montefusco (Avellino). In 1909, early in the year he was struck by illness. On July 19 that year he was Ordained a deacon in the convent church of Morcone. Then on August 10, 1910, he was ordained to the priesthood at the canonical chapel of Benevento cathedral.

Padre Pio celebrated his first Mass at Pietrelcina, on August 14, 1910; the first signs of the Stigmata appear after the month of August. Despite his illness, he was called up the the Italian Army in late 1915 and served with the 10th Medical Company in Naples. By February 1916, Padre Pio is back at the convent of Saint'Anna in Foggia, and in September he's at San Giovanni Rotondo. In mid-December he returns to the Army in Naples, was allowed several periods of leave until March 1918, when he was dispensed from service due to double broncho-alveolitis.

The full Stigmatization occured on September 20, 1918. In May and October 1919 he is examined by medical experts and in June 1922 the inquiry is made by the Holy Office of the Vatican. However, on May 31, 1923, the Holy Office declares that there is nothing "supernatural in the events attributed to Padre Pio." So the following June, he's ordered to celebrate Mass in a side chapel with no public present and he was told not to reply to letters directly or through others.

Later that year, following a general outcry, Pio returns to church and celebrates Mass with the public present. Again, in 1931, he is told to celebrate Mass privately and that same year he's again permitted to celebrate Mass in the main church. In 1934 he is allowed to hear men's confessions again and later that year also women's confessions.

In 1965, after the Second Vatican Council, Padre Pio received authorization to keep saying Mass in Latin. In 1966, due to his overall weakness, he's permitted to celebrate Holy Mass while seated. Two years later, he is confined to a wheelchair as he can no longer walk. On September 22, 1968, Padre Pio celebrated his last Mass, and on September 23rd after having received the last Sacraments, Pio dies peacefully with the rosary in his hand and "Jesus!...Mary!" on his lips.

Padre Pio's cause for beatification and canonication was started on November 4, 1969. On December 18, 1997, in the Vatican Concistorum, in the presence of Pope John Paul II, reading is given to the decree on the heroism of the virtues of Pio, and thus he acquires the title of "Venerable." On April 30, 1998, the Medical Council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examine Signora Consiglia De Martino's recovery from "traumatic rupture of the thoracic duct in the neck"--which in 1995 was judged "scientifically inexplicable." In June 1997, a Theological Commission expresses a clear affirmative declaring it a third-degree miracle. On Sunday, May 2nd, 1999, Padre Pio was beatified, to the exultation of millions of the faithful. Finally, on June 16, 2002, Pio of Pietrelcina is canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

How marvelous to have a great intercessor in Heaven, a man who lived in our times, a man photographed frequently, who left us a picture of himself - a picture of a poor servant of God. Above all, Saint Padre Pio served humbly, quietly, and his life was one of total suffering. He suffered the pain of Christ on the Cross... The Stigmata, the wounds of Christ, were not merely for decoration but they were wounds that hurt deeply, and constantly. He suffered thus for the sin of the world. Shortly before he died, the wounds began to heal and the Stigmata disappeared. His work on earth was done. He was being prepared for that ultimate goal we all have, that is, being in the presence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and seeing the face of God!

Having lived the Rule and life of the Friars Minor Capuchin, is this, to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without property and in chastity. May our brother, Padre Pio, who promised to observe all this be filled with the blessing of the most high Father. Amen.

partial chronology of St. Padre Pio's life, based on: Capuchin Franciscan Friars (Province of St. Mary) Bulletin, 39:5, 118-121; 138-140 (June 2002).

Quoted From: SFO International Council (CIOFS) - Weekly edition, Volume: 8 - N. 23 - 2002 - June - I and Volume: 8 - N. 24 - 2002 - June - I.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this day, when our confrere Blessed Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is fully glorified on earth, it is right that we should rejoice and exult, praise, bless and magnify the one Lord God, who has done and continues to do wondrous things in his faithful servants.

Once again, our eyes full of amazement and our hearts filled with the joy of the Spirit, we are called to contemplate yet another 'wonder’ of God’s love and to testify that we are the recipients of an act of gracious kindness that cannot be measured. Our only reaction is to break out into song: "Great are the works of the Lord, to be pondered by all who love them. Majestic and glorious His work" (Ps. 110).

In Padre Pio we contemplate today with eyes and heart the gift of sanctity!

"Why you...?"

This question, asked yesterday about Francis, is still amazingly relevant as it is asked again, this time about Padre Pio. There is a fascination - ever ancient, ever new - with holiness.

Pope Paul VI had occasion to say: "The same miracle will happen for you, as it happened for Padre Pio.. See the fame he had, the world-wide clientele he gathered around him. Why did this happen? Perhaps because he was a philosopher, because he was wise, because he had great means at his disposal? No - it was because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from morning till night and was - a hard thing to say - a representative of Our Lord, sealed with His very wounds. He was a man of prayer and suffering"

Never were such sublime, significant words spoken by a pope before the promulgation of any decree on the virtues of a Servant of God. They are words of the highest praise, and outline the features of a 'face’ identified with that of Christ poor and crucified. They recognise a "miracle" which happened in human history, in the Church and the Order, through a son of Francis of Assisi. This saint is known and loved the world over for his holy life and prophetic witness, features not dependent on human qualities or means of great power. Rather, they are due to the gratuitous gifts of the Spirit aroused in one man’s free, obedient response to God’s plan and offered freely for the salvation of humanity. Here we have an example of charismatic holiness and prophetic witness which, today as yesterday, disturb, challenge and drive us to question and confront our own lives, so that we can re-present and relive the very same 'miracle’ today.

"I am a mystery to myself"

"Why you...?" Why so much fame, why such an overflowing "clientele" of devout people scattered throughout the world? Even we, his own brothers, ask ourselves the same questions about the "mystery" that engulfed our brother, trying to plumb the inmost depths of his experience and spirituality. Our aim is to interpret the social, cultural and religious "phenomenon" created around his person ... in order to initiate reflection, both inside and outside the Order, about our consecrated life, our identity according to our charism, our gospel witness and about the concrete choices and directions involved in living our brotherhood, our spirituality and our ministry.

Who, then, is Padre Pio, and what does he really represent for the world, for the Church and for his brothers? Is he simply a charismatic miracle-worker who arouses curiosity and moves the crowds of devotees and pilgrims? Or is he a visible, tangible 'sign’ of God’s presence and a powerful reminder of the value of the transcendent? Is he just a focal point for external devotionalism and superficial religious sentiment, which can be channelled and exploited on every occasion? Or does he express deeper spiritual needs: the longing of people for a sense of meaning, for something that is missing at the heart of their lives and needs to be recaptured? Is he one more example of a "myth" amplified by the media, or is he a comet in the vast array of saints that span the history of sanctity, a model to be imitated in this time and place - or rather, a saint with a great impact on the society, culture and Church of our times, a model of holiness that is understandable and liveable in the new millennium, particularly in the process of the new evangelisation?

We are absolutely certain that we are in the presence of a 'giant’ of sanctity in our time, a socio-cultural and religious 'phenomenon’ that needs to be read and interpreted and offered to others, by learning from his experience and spirituality.

Leaving aside the questions and interpretations, what did Padre Pio think of himself? He simply said he was a "mystery to himself" and a "poor friar who says his prayers". One thing is certain: the People of God, who recognise saints before the time, ahead of the official documents, already considered him a saint. And so it was right for Pope John Paul II to say on the day of the beatification: "This humble Capuchin friar stunned the world with his life entirely devoted to prayer and listening to his brothers". The unadorned truth about the mystery of Padre Pio is this: he "passionately" lived out a project of love in fidelity to God and people, and thereby he stunned the whole world.

"The grace of being...a Capuchin"

It was written in God’s plan that Padre Pio was to live out his experience among the Capuchin friars. From infancy, there are very clear signs of "predilection" and of a sure calling to the consecrated life. A lay brother, simple and austere, hastened his desire to enter the friary "in order "to serve God better". During the course of his spiritual and fraternal journey Pio would persistently ask the Lord to obtain for him "the grace to be a less unworthy son of St Francis" and to grow in virtue, so that he could become a "perfect Capuchin."

As a Capuchin, Padre Pio would bring to fulfilment that "great mission" entrusted to him by God, which can be summed up in the expression "sanctify yourself and sanctify others" by placing at the heart of his spiritual, fraternal and ministerial journey the Gospel, the Rule and observance of the vows: obedience, poverty and chastity, lived and witnessed daily in the mutual gift of brotherhood.

The vows represented his three great loves, and they reveal the quality of his witness to consecrated life: "He loved them because they were counsels of Christ, and because they were the means to perfection"

Complete trust in God and acceptance of his will were part and parcel of the vow of obedience, which constitutes "the only thing acceptable to him"  and "the only raft to which I can cling in this spiritual shipwreck.". He trusted in authority "as a baby in its mother’s arms."

His letters and his spiritual directors testify to his great love for chastity and his vigilance concerning it, and confirm his constant desire for purity of heart and inner harmony which would stand the test of time. He himself confesses: "...the devil cannot refrain from his efforts to make me lose my peace of soul...He tries to do this chiefly by continual temptations against holy purity." In a letter to novices he wrote that the entire edifice of happiness is sustained by two pillars: one is the desire for holiness, the other "is love for and vigilance in the matter of your chastity."

The observance of poverty, that radical detachment from material goods and from all forms of vainglory, features strongly in his experience. On several occasions he mentions the 'complaints’ of Jesus about the counter-witness given regarding the vow of poverty: "The religious, says Jesus, consider themselves so many princes...Where is their vow of poverty? How many souls are scandalized by this violation of their profession?"

Together with the three vows in the strict sense, his journey towards the fullness of love was strongly marked by the features and values of Capuchin-Franciscan spirituality: love for the Church and the Pope, prayer and contemplation, humility and minority, simplicity and joy, a brotherly spirit of approachability and sharing, presence among people, suffering with the poor and attachment to the traditions and devotions of the Order. All these features combine in a harmonious way in a life-project modeled on the example of our Father St Francis, and of the Rule, legislation and traditions proper to the Capuchin Order.

It was and remained Padre Pio’s wish to become a "perfect Capuchin", with complete fidelity and radical perseverance to the end of his days - and in that final moment he wished to renew his profession. We cannot deny that Padre Pio’s experience is marked by the sensitivities of his times, and expresses them clearly. But who can fail to notice the call it represents to return to the fundamental choices of the consecrated life, and to the foundational charism of the Order? How can we avoid thinking in terms of a particular 'mission’ which the Spirit has entrusted to us, his fellow friars, in the Church and in the world? In his homily at the beatification, the Pope gives some clear indications: "this humble friar"; "a life totally devoted to prayer and listening to his brothers and sisters."

The experience of Padre Pio, both ordinary and extraordinary, shows that the origin and end of our life project, and its very heart, are underpinned by the gracious calling of God and the free response we give, supported by the strong motivation of faith, hope and love, which are at the root of all our planning and choosing and growing, whether in the spiritual life, in living as brothers, or in our ministries. It shows also that our holy confrere, in accordance with the best Capuchin tradition, was a "people’s friar", in prayer and in constantly listening to people. Are we, Capuchins of the new millennium, capable of tuning in to the same wavelength, and welcoming the challenges that come to us from his witness?

"I love to suffer with Jesus ..."

Padre Pio exercised his priestly ministry in two specific areas: the altar and the confessional, which are "...the two elements or powers that characterize the Catholic priesthood in its specific nature and its true essence: the faculty to consecrate the Body and Blood of the Lord and that of forgiving sins." From the day of his ordination the altar became "the source and summit, the pivot and centre, of his entire life and activity."

In the Mass, which he defined as an "awe-inspiring mystery", he shared in the passion of Jesus at a profound level, offering himself as "victim" in expiation and reparation for the sins of humanity. This "victim" state certainly represents a central point of his life and ministry as a priest. In this sense his 'mission’ can be defined as a "vocation to co-redemption".

The words of Paul VI are stamped for ever on our memories: "He said Mass humbly." So are those of John Paul II: "Who can forget the fervour with which Padre Pio, in the Mass, relived the passion of Christ?" It was his Mass, celebrated and lived with such intensity, that drew the attention of millions of people.

The other area of his apostolate was the ministry of reconciliation, which he exercised with such an impressive degree of fidelity and constancy, with such heroism and love, that he has rightly been called the "martyr of the confessional". In this activity in the broad sense we can also include spiritual direction.

As confessor, Padre Pio felt a burning desire to "set his brothers free from the snares of Satan," and great indeed was the number of those he 'set free’ by taking on himself and carrying the weight of so many sins committed by weak human beings. Even his 'way’ of hearing confessions, part of his personal charism and exercised with very precise pedagogical aims, always had the good of souls in view. God alone knows how much merciful love, how much grace, light and consolation, were poured out on those he listened to, confessed and directed.

How frequently the Pope in recent times has called priests back to the centrality of the Eucharist and reconciliation! Well then: "Were not the altar and the confessional the twin poles of his life? This priestly witness contains a message which is as valid as it is timely."

How are we to interpret this particular attention to the ministry of reconciliation, this constant reminder of the need to rediscover new forms of our ministry as confessors? Surely we can only view them as 'signs of the times’? I believe that as " the people’s friars" we need to ask ourselves some questions about this ministry. We have some radical choices to make in terms of priorities, in fidelity to a traditional practice of the Order and with a special eye on shrines, where the faithful flock in greater numbers to receive the grace of forgiveness.

"I am consumed by love for God and love for my neighbor"

As a son of Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio inseparably combined in an exemplary way contemplation and the apostolate, love of God and love of neighbor. "It can all be summed up as follows: I am consumed by love for God and love for my neighbor."

What Padre Pio experienced can only be understood against the backdrop of a unique, intimate, intense love-relationship with God, in which all aspects of his life - his dreams, plans, thoughts, feelings, decisions and actions - are born, carried forward and consumed. "God is continually fixed in my mind and imprinted in my heart. I never lose sight of him."

The love that burned within him, like "an ever active volcano" rendered him worthy of being totally identified with and conformed to Christ crucified through the gift of the stigmata, the highest sign of God’s favour and the greatest evidence that he shared in the sufferings of humanity: "...I have been made worthy to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus." He "chooses souls and...he has chosen mine also to help him in the tremendous task of men’s salvation." It was not by chance that Paul VI called him "a representative of Our Lord Jesus Christ, sealed with His very wounds" in order to demonstrate that the living image of the crucified and risen Christ had been stamped into his flesh.

The love which he drew from that fountain, like life-giving, revivifying water, is poured out in charity to neighbour and flows into the vast ocean of the poverty and suffering of humanity.

In the wake of the best Capuchin-Franciscan tradition he set out to meet the 'lepers’ of his day, spending himself to alleviate their sufferings. It was precisely from this "com-passion" with Christ and his brothers that he drew the inspiration of founding the 'Prayer Groups’ and the 'House for the Relief of Suffering’. These were intended to be, respectively, places where God’s love could be experienced in prayer and where material and spiritual concern could be shown to the sick.

Faced with the need for 'interiority’ and the emergence of new forms of poverty, we cannot remain indifferent to this capacity to combine contemplation and action, and specifically to "suffer with" the weakest of our brothers and sisters. It is a part of our charism, and must find a place among the concrete choices we are called to make on the spiritual, fraternal and pastoral levels.

"I have done my part...may Christ teach you yours"

As Francis of Assisi did in his day, so must his sons do their part, in every time and place, in the light of the Spirit. This was true for Padre Pio, who brought to fulfillment the "great mission" entrusted to him by God. He carried out to the full the "part" that had been designated and contained from all eternity in his life project.

Recognizing his holiness, we his brothers at this time in history are entrusted with his 'memory’ as a 'living icon’. May we be sensitive to the breath of the Spirit, attentive to the signs of the times, so as to read and interpret, assimilate and embody, guard and transmit, the clear and simple message that flows from his gospel example. It is a message that is amazingly fresh and relevant to our times.

Yes, Padre Pio has something important, something essential, to say and to offer us at the start of this new millennium. He is no stage character locked in a cage somewhere in the distant past (as some have tried to maintain). He belongs, 'in his own way’, to the present and is closer to us than we might think or imagine, because his experience of a "crazy" love for God and for people shouts louder than a banner headline and transcends time, since it is founded on the perennial relevance of the Gospel.

The event of the canonization gives us a saint who sheds his light on the face of the Church and of humanity. However, the gift of a new saint cannot be simply and solely a cause for pride and boasting. That would be childish and narcissistic, self-regarding and sterile. Rather, it should "provoke" and challenge us to take on new tasks and responsibilities in terms of brotherly witness, gospel values and pastoral commitments, particularly through the ministry of reconciliation.

In a context of religious indifference and neo-paganism, yet with a profound nostalgia for the transcendent, we are called to do more than "recount" stories and facts related to his experience. In his name and by his example we must also write new pages in the story of love for God and love for people.

Praise be ...

For our Father St Francis everything was grace, and everything had to be 'given back’ to God in praise and thanksgiving.

What can we give back to the Lord for all that he has given us in his servant Padre Pio, that "living image of the crucified and risen Christ", raised up by the Spirit in our times and sent to shed light on the Church and the world through his humble, simple witness as a Capuchin brother and priest? We might paraphrase the Canticle of the Creatures and simply sing with one heart and voice: "Praise be to You, my Lord, for giving us Padre Pio...a Saint entrusted to the memory of peoples and centuries, whose name will be for ever blessed."

And you, Padre Pio, from your place in heaven, together with the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother, bless us your brothers, and intercede for the Church and humanity.

To the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, "all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honour, all blessing and all good. So be it! So be it! Amen."

More on Padre Pio
 

St. Padre Pio  1887-1968

Padre Pio, in the world Francesco Forgione, was born in Pietrelcina near Benevento, on 25 May 1887. He entered as a cleric in the Capuchin Order on 6 January 1903 and was ordained a priest on 10 August 1910, in the Cathedral of Benevento.  On 28 July 1916, he came to San Giovanni Rotondo, on the Gargano, where, except for a brief interruption, he remained until his death on 23 September 1968.

On the morning of Friday, 20 September 1918, praying before the Crucifix in the choir of the old church, he received the gift of the stigmata, that remained in his body, fresh and bleeding, for half a century.

During his life, which was dedicated entirely to the fulfillment of his priestly ministry, he founded the "Prayer Groups" and a modern hospital to which he gave the name "The Home for the Relief of Suffering".

The diocesan process for his canonization, begun on 20 March 1983, was concluded on 21 January 1990. All the many documents gathered and compiled in 104 volumes were consigned to the Congregation for Causes of Saints.

On 13 June 1997, the Theological Commission, unanimously expressed a favorable opinion on the heroicity of the virtues of the Padre; and the following 21 October, the same favorable opinion, equally unanimous, was issued by the Commission of Cardinals.

The Holy Father John Paul II granted the title of Venerable, with the publication of the "Decretum super virtutibus" on 18 December 1997. >From this aforementioned decree we would like to reproduce the introduction: " 'But far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus’ - Gal 6,14.

"Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, like the Apostle Paul, placed the holy Cross, that was his strength, his wisdom and his glory at the apex of his life and his apostolate. Free from the vanities of the world and enamored of Jesus Christ, he conformed himself to Him, offering up his life for the salvation of the world. His following and imitation of the divine victim was so generous and perfect that he could say: 'I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ - Gal 2,19. Nor did he wish to keep for himself the treasures of grace, which God conceded him in abundance; so without rest he served those who came to him through his sacred ministry and there grew a great multitude of spiritual children".

After the publication of the aforesaid Decree, the Postulation for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Padre Pio presented to the competent Vatican Congregation an occurrence held to be miraculous that took place through the intercession of the Padre.

The miracle was recognized by the Pope, after the approval of the three commissions canonically required. The Medical Consultations of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which met on 30 April 1998, examined the cure of Mrs Consiglia De Martino from "a traumatic rupture of the thoracic duct in the neck", that took place on 3 November 1995, and with a unanimous vote (5 out of 5) judged it "scientifically inexplicable".

The Theological Commission, that consisted of the Promoter General of the Faith and six theological consultants, on 22 June 1998, examined the same extraordinary fact and, after detailed discussion, expressed themselves clearly in the affirmative (7 votes out of 7), qualifying it a third degree miracle or quoad modum. The same favorable opinion was expressed by the Commission of Cardinals in the month of October of the same year.

Finally the Pope officially recognized the miracle with the Decree of 21 December 1998 and fixed the date for the Beatification for Sunday, 2 May 1999. He was canonized on 26 February 2002 by John Paul II.    Home Page

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