BIOGRAPHY
Padre Pio (Francesco Forgione) was born in the small farming town of Pietrelcina, Italy on May 25, 1887 to a family of strong Catholic faith. As a young boy, Francesco had shown signs of extraordinary gifts of grace. At the age of five, he dedicated his life to God. As a child he was very religious. He loved to go to church and to pray. He was not only able see and talk with his guardian angel, but also with Jesus and the Virgin Mary. As a child, Francesco thought everyone was able to see and speak with these heavenly Beings.
At the age of 15, he was admitted as a novitiate of the Capuchin Order of the Friars Minor in Morcone, Italy. The students there noted he was pious, humble and always in prayer. Padre Pio was ordained to the priesthood August 10, 1910.
Already feeling a sense of direction and calling as a young priest that same year, he wrote wrote a letter to his spiritual director, Father Benedetto Nardella, asking permission to offer his life as a victim for sinners. Padre Pio wrote, “For a long time I have felt in myself a need to offer myself to the Lord as a victim for poor sinners and for the souls in Purgatory. This desire has been growing continually in my heart so that it has now become what I would call a strong passion. . ., imploring on Him to lay on me the punishments prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory so long as He converts and saves sinners and quickly releases the souls in Purgatory. It seems to me that Jesus wants this.” This "calling" came after Padre Pio had experienced a temporary invisible stigmata in September of 1910 given to him by Jesus and Mother Mary. His suffering was to include flagellations and the crowning of thorns nearly every week. He also carried a wound of 10 centimeters on his right shoulder.
On September 20, 1918, while praying before the crucifix at Our Lady of Grace Church, San Giovanni, Italy, a mysterious celestial being appeared before Padre Pio and the wounds of Christ appeared on Padre Pio’s body. He was to bare them 50 years almost the day. Along with the Stigmata came the gifts of bi-location, reading of consciences, prophesy, healing, gift of conversion, fragrances, languages, communication with angels, and the knowing of past-present-future events as God gave them to him.
As news spread about the priest who bled, it would be several years before the Church would sanctify the stigmata and the priest. This process would include several doctors, priests and other lay people who would examine the wounds. Rumors of immorality and staging his own wounds would be carried to the Holy See. The ability to conduct mass, hear confessions, or leave San Giovanni until the subject was cleared would span a decade. Church officials would eventually clear Padre Pio of any wrong doing and the people would again, flock to San Giovanni. The Faithful continued to be faithful. The reading of consciences, healing, and stories of Padre Pio on the battle field with soldiers would continue to bring the Faithful to San Giovanni.
Padre Pio spent hours in the Confessional and would conduct two hours masses. His life was not easy, but it was the sacrificial life he asked for, and received. He was ill many months of the year. As a young man, he was constantly seen by a doctor. At one point, his fever was so high it broke the thermometer. He said of his ills, "I am fully convinced my illness is due to a special permission of the LORD." Padre Pio had the motto of always offering his sufferings to the LORD for the salvation of others. His stigmata bled throughout the day, but more so more from Thursday on through Saturday. When praying for someone, he would find his wounds flare.
Saint Pio was always praying the Rosary. He had one was sewn into his habit so he could continually pray wherever he was, with whatever he was doing. "Prayer is the best weapon we have and the key to God's heart." When asked by a superior how many he had prayed that day, he replied with 35 up to that point. His sufferings and prayers were given for both the living on earth, and for those in Purgatory. He said there were more souls from Purgatory coming up his mountain asking him for a mass, then living souls.
The days of Padre Pio were long and full. Sleeping very little and eating even less, he spent his days hearing confessions, praying and offering his life and sufferings as a sacrifice for others. His motto: "I have regenerated them to Jesus through suffering and love." He continued to battle Hell all his life as demons often attacked him at night. It was said by a demon, "Father, you give us more trouble than St. Michael." He was often left bloody and bruised. Satan came disguised as clergy, friends, animals, and once as a well-dressed man in the Confessional. It wasn't until Padre Pio became suspicious and said: "Say 'Long live Jesus, Long live Mary" that the man vanished.
As the need for helping the sick grew, Padre Pio shared a vision where he saw the image of Christ in the poor, the suffering, and the sick, and Christ giving Himself to them. The hospital Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House of Suffering) was built in response to the vision. It began its construction in 1940 and was completed in 1956 and continues to thrive today. It is one of Italy's best hospitals.
As the Second World War loomed over Europe, the Holy See Pope Pius XII's requested prayer for the Church and for world peace. This gave way to Pio's request for prayer groups that would both support the hospital and answer the Pontiff's call for prayer. These prayer groups had specific membership requests by Padre Pio:
- To live intensely on God’s grace and make use of the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation often
- To live one’s faith in words and actions, in a true Christian life
- To love Jesus Christ Crucified, the Most Blessed sacrament, Our Blessed Mother, the holy Father and the Roman Catholic Church
- To be pro-active and animated by a sincere spirit of charity towards all
The Call and Mission of every Prayer Group is to "regenerate them to Jesus through suffering and love." The prayer groups are now The International Association of Padre Pio Prayer Groups.
Padre Pio celebrated his last mass September 22, 1968, and passed onto Heaven September 23, 1968. The Father Guardian stated that within ten minutes of his passing, all marks of the stigmata were gone. He was canonized in 2002. His feast day is celebrated September 23. His body was exhumed in 2008 and is entombed at the Church of Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy. Every year 8 million people visit San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy to see the saint. He had often said, “After my death I will do more. My real mission will begin after my death.” "I will not enter Heaven until the last of my children have entered." "Everyone can say, Padre Pio is mine." "When I take on a person, I take on their whole family."
In 1971, Pope Paul VI, speaking to the superiors of the Capuchin order, said of Padre Pio, “What fame he had. How many followers from around the world. Why? Was it because he was a philosopher, a scholar, or because he had means at his disposal? No, it was because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from morning until night and was a marked representative of the stigmata of Our Lord. He was truly a man of prayer and suffering.”
Pope Benedict XVI on October 14, 2006, described the Prayer Groups of Padre Pio as "That part" of the Saint's apostolate "that knocks continuously at God's heart, like an army of intercessors and restorers, to obtain those graces that are necessary for the Church and for the world."
_____________________________________
Ruffin, C. Bernard. Padre Pio: The True Story. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1991.
PADRE PIO PRAY FOR US
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.”
Colossians 1:24
Padre Pio (Francesco Forgione) was born in the small farming town of Pietrelcina, Italy on May 25, 1887 to a family of strong Catholic faith. As a young boy, Francesco had shown signs of extraordinary gifts of grace. At the age of five, he dedicated his life to God. As a child he was very religious. He loved to go to church and to pray. He was not only able see and talk with his guardian angel, but also with Jesus and the Virgin Mary. As a child, Francesco thought everyone was able to see and speak with these heavenly Beings.
At the age of 15, he was admitted as a novitiate of the Capuchin Order of the Friars Minor in Morcone, Italy. The students there noted he was pious, humble and always in prayer. Padre Pio was ordained to the priesthood August 10, 1910.
Already feeling a sense of direction and calling as a young priest that same year, he wrote wrote a letter to his spiritual director, Father Benedetto Nardella, asking permission to offer his life as a victim for sinners. Padre Pio wrote, “For a long time I have felt in myself a need to offer myself to the Lord as a victim for poor sinners and for the souls in Purgatory. This desire has been growing continually in my heart so that it has now become what I would call a strong passion. . ., imploring on Him to lay on me the punishments prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory so long as He converts and saves sinners and quickly releases the souls in Purgatory. It seems to me that Jesus wants this.” This "calling" came after Padre Pio had experienced a temporary invisible stigmata in September of 1910 given to him by Jesus and Mother Mary. His suffering was to include flagellations and the crowning of thorns nearly every week. He also carried a wound of 10 centimeters on his right shoulder.
On September 20, 1918, while praying before the crucifix at Our Lady of Grace Church, San Giovanni, Italy, a mysterious celestial being appeared before Padre Pio and the wounds of Christ appeared on Padre Pio’s body. He was to bare them 50 years almost the day. Along with the Stigmata came the gifts of bi-location, reading of consciences, prophesy, healing, gift of conversion, fragrances, languages, communication with angels, and the knowing of past-present-future events as God gave them to him.
As news spread about the priest who bled, it would be several years before the Church would sanctify the stigmata and the priest. This process would include several doctors, priests and other lay people who would examine the wounds. Rumors of immorality and staging his own wounds would be carried to the Holy See. The ability to conduct mass, hear confessions, or leave San Giovanni until the subject was cleared would span a decade. Church officials would eventually clear Padre Pio of any wrong doing and the people would again, flock to San Giovanni. The Faithful continued to be faithful. The reading of consciences, healing, and stories of Padre Pio on the battle field with soldiers would continue to bring the Faithful to San Giovanni.
Padre Pio spent hours in the Confessional and would conduct two hours masses. His life was not easy, but it was the sacrificial life he asked for, and received. He was ill many months of the year. As a young man, he was constantly seen by a doctor. At one point, his fever was so high it broke the thermometer. He said of his ills, "I am fully convinced my illness is due to a special permission of the LORD." Padre Pio had the motto of always offering his sufferings to the LORD for the salvation of others. His stigmata bled throughout the day, but more so more from Thursday on through Saturday. When praying for someone, he would find his wounds flare.
Saint Pio was always praying the Rosary. He had one was sewn into his habit so he could continually pray wherever he was, with whatever he was doing. "Prayer is the best weapon we have and the key to God's heart." When asked by a superior how many he had prayed that day, he replied with 35 up to that point. His sufferings and prayers were given for both the living on earth, and for those in Purgatory. He said there were more souls from Purgatory coming up his mountain asking him for a mass, then living souls.
The days of Padre Pio were long and full. Sleeping very little and eating even less, he spent his days hearing confessions, praying and offering his life and sufferings as a sacrifice for others. His motto: "I have regenerated them to Jesus through suffering and love." He continued to battle Hell all his life as demons often attacked him at night. It was said by a demon, "Father, you give us more trouble than St. Michael." He was often left bloody and bruised. Satan came disguised as clergy, friends, animals, and once as a well-dressed man in the Confessional. It wasn't until Padre Pio became suspicious and said: "Say 'Long live Jesus, Long live Mary" that the man vanished.
As the need for helping the sick grew, Padre Pio shared a vision where he saw the image of Christ in the poor, the suffering, and the sick, and Christ giving Himself to them. The hospital Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House of Suffering) was built in response to the vision. It began its construction in 1940 and was completed in 1956 and continues to thrive today. It is one of Italy's best hospitals.
As the Second World War loomed over Europe, the Holy See Pope Pius XII's requested prayer for the Church and for world peace. This gave way to Pio's request for prayer groups that would both support the hospital and answer the Pontiff's call for prayer. These prayer groups had specific membership requests by Padre Pio:
- To live intensely on God’s grace and make use of the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation often
- To live one’s faith in words and actions, in a true Christian life
- To love Jesus Christ Crucified, the Most Blessed sacrament, Our Blessed Mother, the holy Father and the Roman Catholic Church
- To be pro-active and animated by a sincere spirit of charity towards all
The Call and Mission of every Prayer Group is to "regenerate them to Jesus through suffering and love." The prayer groups are now The International Association of Padre Pio Prayer Groups.
Padre Pio celebrated his last mass September 22, 1968, and passed onto Heaven September 23, 1968. The Father Guardian stated that within ten minutes of his passing, all marks of the stigmata were gone. He was canonized in 2002. His feast day is celebrated September 23. His body was exhumed in 2008 and is entombed at the Church of Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy. Every year 8 million people visit San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy to see the saint. He had often said, “After my death I will do more. My real mission will begin after my death.” "I will not enter Heaven until the last of my children have entered." "Everyone can say, Padre Pio is mine." "When I take on a person, I take on their whole family."
In 1971, Pope Paul VI, speaking to the superiors of the Capuchin order, said of Padre Pio, “What fame he had. How many followers from around the world. Why? Was it because he was a philosopher, a scholar, or because he had means at his disposal? No, it was because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from morning until night and was a marked representative of the stigmata of Our Lord. He was truly a man of prayer and suffering.”
Pope Benedict XVI on October 14, 2006, described the Prayer Groups of Padre Pio as "That part" of the Saint's apostolate "that knocks continuously at God's heart, like an army of intercessors and restorers, to obtain those graces that are necessary for the Church and for the world."
_____________________________________
Ruffin, C. Bernard. Padre Pio: The True Story. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1991.
PADRE PIO PRAY FOR US
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.”
Colossians 1:24
RESOURCES AND INFORMATION FOR PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUPS, HIS MISSION AND HIS TEACHINGS
2018
2018
PADRE PIO: Heavenly Facts.pdf | |
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