THE WAY OF PADRE PIO
In our Christian life, we have our “why” for existence: we are created out of love to love our Creator. Now, we must choose the “how.” God has shown the way to love Him. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. This purpose will keep us from the apathy of life, from an emotional death and living dead to others. How do we lay down our lives daily for others? We offer our pain and suffering – united to the Cross – as debt for their offences against God. Our pain is their healing.
In offering our pain to Christ and for others, we fulfill the two greatest commandments: Love your God with all your heart, and Love your neighbor as yourself. If our “why” in life is to love God with all our heart, then our “how” lies in loving our neighbor. In doing so, we live the Passion of Christ. Again, this is The Way of Padre Pio. We were created to love God; we express this by loving God and others: specifically, by laying down our lives for them.
REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING
Redemptive Suffering is the use of one's suffering as compensation for another’s sin. In Christian theology, it is the offer of Christ’s suffering and death as full payment for the justice demanded of God against sin. For Christians, it is the offer for God to place the consequences of another’s sin onto oneself, to make amends for that person and allow God to work graces into the life of the other without the hindrance of their sin. It is the offering of our suffering and sacrifice - freely given – united to the Sacrifice of the Cross – that redeems sin and makes reparation for it. The value of the reparation lies not in the suffering, but in the love that offers it; the value of the love lies in the intensity that tests the strength of that love. The greater the sacrifice, the purer the love. It is this sacrifice that proves our love for Him which then opens our soul to His will and Spirit. Each suffering leads us away from ourselves and closer to Him. In this sacrifice for another we become intercessors.
Offering reparation for others may include the willingness to take onto oneself the actual illness or circumstances of the person such as Padre Pio did. The reparation can also be a general gesture given to God to use as He wishes such as praying a novena. No action of our own can expiate sin. Only the sacrifice of the Cross can do this. It is when we unite our sacrifice with the sacrifice of the Cross, does it have power. The act itself is meaningless unless it is untied to the Cross. It is the cross that gives it value – the Standard that lives within the act. The Standard is the selfless love of God. His love, through the offering of our suffering and sacrifice, makes reparation for sin. We cannot take on another’s sin; we can only make reparation for the consequences of sin.
Saint Pope John Paul II explains Redemptive Suffering and the saint's role in the salvation of each other:
"Does that mean that the Redemption achieved by Christ is not complete? No. It only means that the Redemption, accomplished through satisfactory love, remains always open to all love expressed in human suffering. In this dimension - the dimension of love - the Redemption which has already been completely accomplished is, in a certain sense, constantly being accomplished. Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limits, but at the same time He did not bring it to a close. In this Redemptive Suffering, through which the Redemption of the world was accomplished, Christ opened Himself from the beginning to every human suffering and constantly does so. Yes, it seems to be part of the very essence of Christ's Redemptive Suffering that this suffering requires to be unceasingly complete."6 (Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, to the Priests, to the Religious Families and to the Faithful of the Catholic Church on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering (February 11, 1984)
FORMS OF REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING
Redemptive Suffering has many forms. The simplest form is surrendering our will to God. The Morning Offering Prayer guides us through this daily task.
"O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.”7
In this prayer we commit to God every act performed through the day to God to use in the manner He knows best. In this way, everything we do becomes holy. We become immersed in His life to the point where everything we do, we examine, so we can offer it to God. St. Pio reminds us, “We must give an exact account of every moment, of every grace, of every holy inspiration, of every opportunity to do good.”8 St. Mother Teresa taught us that every missed prayer, every missed act of kindness is one less drop of mercy in the sea of God’s love for all eternity.
A second form is the act of self-examination. We must be free of sin. As we present ourselves to God, we ask Him to illuminate our conscience. We cannot change what we do not know is wrong. By His grace, we offer the only thing that is ours - our will and intellect. In that, is the beginning of self-knowledge and the removal of all that is not of God from our lives. In the removal of such, great is our power to intercede. “I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering; an offering of the will. No other sacrifice can compare with this one”9 (Jesus to St. Faustina). As God shows us our wrongs and weaknesses through self-examination, we approach Him through Confession. In Confession, we are given prayers and acts by the priest to show repentance. We may be asked to perform an act to correct the sinful nature that caused the sin. This may include performing an act of kindness for someone we were impatient with. This allows God’s grace into that part of ourselves that allowed the sin to occur whereby we begin to decrease so He may increase.
A third form is obedience. Obedience to the Father’s will reveals our relationship to Him. Do I obey Him when He asks me to help carry His Cross, and nails me to it? Do I obey Him when He allows suffering in my life, and I cannot find Him anywhere? Do I obey when it costs me everything? It was through love and obedience Jesus lived His Passion out. Jesus granted St. Faustina a request through her obedience to her Confessor. “I have granted the grace you asked for on behalf of that soul, but not because of the mortification you choose for yourself, but because of the act of complete obedience to My representative did I grant grace to that soul for whom you interceded and begged mercy. Know that when you mortify your own self-will, then Mine reigns within you.”10 Herein lies the crux: in the darkest of times, in the silence of His voice, when obeying costs me everything I love, do I obey my will, or His?
A fourth form is prayer. Prayer is the door to the Father’s heart which, when done in the most difficult times of trial, can turn His heart toward the one praying. It is in the form of novenas, chaplets and, of course, the beloved Rosary. It is standing in His presence without uttering a word, a simple offering of one’s joyful or broken heart. Prayer can be offered as reparation, purification and in the veneration of saints as we ask for their intercession. A Novena said for nine days, a Rosary offered on our knees at the feet of the parish Madonna, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayed at the three o’clock hour, and skipping a meal to pray, are not only forms of prayer, but ways to make reparation for others. Our Lady at Fatima urged the children to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners and the offenses against her Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She gave the children a prayer to be said before a sacrifice and reparation were offered:
O Jesus, it is for Your love, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.11
When we pray for others, we intercede for them. Our prayers become intercessory prayers. The Mass is the greatest form of intercession because it is the greatest form of prayer. It is the Sacrifice of the Son of God. There is no greater power or entity than the Blood of Jesus covering a soul. It removes sin and its consequences. It empowers a soul with the Spirit of God. “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24 NABRE). Outside the Sacrifice of the Mass, our actions are nothing, until they are united with Him. In the Mass, we can intercede for those we pray for by offering them during the Intentions of the Sacrifice of the Mass. We can say,
“LORD, I offer ________ for the Intention of the Sacrifice of this Mass. Remove from them sin that hinders Your Grace. I offer my life as reparation, united to Your Sacrifice on the Cross.”
We can place them on the Altar at the time of the Offertory, and say,
“Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our LORD Jesus Christ, in atonement for the sins of ________.”
Few are called to be a Victim Soul to the degree St. Pio, St. Faustina and Mother Teresa were. These souls are so close to Christ, they bare His marks in some form. Their mission was to help Jesus bear His Cross and live out the motto: Not my will, but Thy will be done. Nothing happens, but first prayer.
WORK OF INTERCESSORS
God can work in a person's life without that person asking Him directly for help because another has interceded for them, and God honors that. God honors the intercession for another because the act of taking on the consequences of that other’s sin through suffering was done freely. It is an act of shear love and grace, done in the Standard of God’s Love. The consequences of that person’s sin through suffering are put onto the intercessor. This is what Christ did for mankind. Again, it can only be done when the suffering is united to the suffering of Christ on the Cross – the Standard of Redemption.
“My sacrifice is nothing in itself, but, when I join it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes all-powerful and has the power to appease divine wrath.”12 (St. Faustina)
This desire to offer oneself cannot come from within us as “I know that good does not dwell in me” (Romans 7:18 NABRE). It is His call in us – the Passion of Christ – that moves us. It is His Passion in us that moves us to bear another's physical, emotional or spiritual blight; it is His passion that moves us to deny ourselves to save another. This is what is meant in the verse, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13 NABRE). In offering to take another's consequences of sin through suffering, we redeem the other and pay the debt of that sin. We, then, "complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body" (Colossians 1:24 NABRE). We become Christ for them. The sin that prevents Christ from freely working in a person's life, Redemptive Suffering removes.
We cannot "save" another person, but we can intercede for them - through our suffering, united to Christ's suffering on the Cross. Through the sacrifice of Christ, sin is atoned, expiated. The Cross of Christ is the only altar the Father will accept as atonement for sin. Through the sacrifice of our suffering, the consequences of sin are amended. The effects of sin are removed from the person we are praying for and placed on us. We pray to God, as Padre Pio prayed, to lay on us the punishments that are prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory, so long as He converts and saves them.
In the laying down of our lives as intercessors, Christ may show us areas where we are lacking in Him, and where He desires a change. Before we can offer ourselves, we must let Him alter and purify us where He wishes, and allow us to “come up” to His standard. An offering of self must be clean of all blemishes. This is why self-examination and confession are important. Therefore, attend confession regularly, and pray:
“LORD, remove from my life all that is not of the Father. I ask this through the intercession of Mother Mary, St. Joseph and St. Padre Pio.”
In daily living, I ask Him to remove what is not of the Father in what I am doing at the moment. It makes all the difference, especially when what I am doing is frustrating, or doubtful.
REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING SAINTS
Throughout scripture there have been saints who offered themselves as reparation for others. These are Redemptive Suffering, or Intercessory saints. Moses, when God threatened to obliterate the Hebrews due to their stubbornness, offered himself as atonement for them (Exodus 32:30-34). St. Paul of Tarsus not only offered his sufferings for the Body of Christ, but did so gladly (Colossians 1:24). We may not be so bold in our offerings as the saints of old, but as St. Therese of Lisieux, we can offer the little things in our daily lives.
St. Padre Pio
Padre Pio knew the LORD was calling him to do exactly this: take upon himself the punishments due to those he prayed for so God could work in their lives. In the beginning, he did not know the extent of the Call. Saint Pio wrote about this to his superior:
"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… imploring on Him to lay on me the punishments that are prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory, so long as He converts and saves sinners.”15
The life of Padre Pio was one of Redemptive Suffering. His mission was to be Christ on earth as a Victim Soul. In that life, he was to offer his suffering for mankind through his wounds, illnesses, demonic and personal attacks. For 58 years, he offered himself for his spiritual children, unsaved souls and world events. As his spiritual children, we are called to do the same in whatever capacity God calls us to. When we offer our suffering for the purification of others, we ourselves are purified. St. Pio will assist us as we do this. Assuring a spiritual child of his help he said, “Rest assured that I will pray for you. Even after my death, I will remember you in my prayers.”16
This was the Passion of Padre Pio. It was the mission he asked for and received from Jesus when he was given the Stigmata. This must be our Passion, the Passion of Christ in us.
LIFE HAPPENS
As life happens, suffering becomes meaningful because we choose to offer it for another. The focus of our pain moves from us to the one we offer it for. When a suffering is offered, two spiritual graces occur: the suffering is placed into the Palm of God where Satan cannot touch it (Is. 49:16); the offering allows God to bring His Grace to another. The person who offers the sacrifice is sanctified; the person for whom the sacrifice is offered is sanctified. Suffering is used for purification. It is how God sanctifies us. However horrible the suffering is, given to our LORD, it has redemption. “I demand, My daughter, that your sacrifice be pure and full of humility, that I may find pleasure in it. I will not spare My grace, that you may be able to fulfill what I demand of you...accept all sufferings with love...All power rests in the will”19 (Jesus to St. Faustina).
* * * * *
When we offer our actions to God, at best, we move closer to Him; at worst, we keep Satan from using them against us. Either way, our actions are eternal. They count for, and against us. In His Hands, “We know all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NABRE).
We long to help those we love and care for, and gladly participate in the alleviation of their pain by offering up our own to allow God's Grace of healing in theirs. Jesus will not interfere with the free will of a person, but He will honor the suffering intercession of another as the Father honored and accepted the suffering intercession of His Son for all humankind. As we participate in the Passion of Christ, and complete His Redemptive work, we will be suffering for one another through the Passion, with the Passion and in the Passion of Christ. It is The Way of Padre Pio.
IN ST. PIO'S OWN WORDS
“You think you know my love for you, but you don’t know that it is much greater than you can imagine. I follow you with my prayers, with my suffering, and with my tears.”20
“Oh God, there is so much suffering, so much sickness. Please take away the sufferings of that poor man and give them to me.”21
“If you had even a part of the pain that I have, you would die.”22
“I am ready for anything, as long as Jesus is content to save the souls of my brothers, especially those He has entrusted to my care.”23
“I feel all your troubles as if they were my own.”24
“The angels are jealous of us for one reason only: they are not able to suffer for God. Only through suffering can a soul say with certainty: ‘My God, You see, I do love You.’”25
“The gift of our pain, of our sufferings is a great thing, which we cannot do in Paradise.”26
(Excerpts from The Way of Padre Pio, Christian Faith Publishing, 2023)
_______________________
6. Pope John Paul II. “Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, to the Priests, to the Religious Families and to the Faithful of the Catholic Church on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.” February 11, 1984. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/ documents/hf_jp- ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
7. Gautrelet, Fr. François-Xavier. "Morning Offering Prayer", Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Washington D. C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1989.
8. Pio, 2018, p. 7
9. Faustina, p. 358 (#923)
10. Ibid, p.164 (#365)
11. McGlynn, p. 204 (#482)
12. Michalenko, p. 110
15. Ruffin, p. 74
16. Allen, 2011, p. 145
19. Faustina, p. 627 (#1767)
20. Allen, 2011, p.233
21. Ibid, p. 62
22. Ibid, p. 262
23. Ibid, p. 222
24. Allen, 2012, p.65
25. Pio, 2018, p. 57
26. Pio, 2018, p. 49
In our Christian life, we have our “why” for existence: we are created out of love to love our Creator. Now, we must choose the “how.” God has shown the way to love Him. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. This purpose will keep us from the apathy of life, from an emotional death and living dead to others. How do we lay down our lives daily for others? We offer our pain and suffering – united to the Cross – as debt for their offences against God. Our pain is their healing.
In offering our pain to Christ and for others, we fulfill the two greatest commandments: Love your God with all your heart, and Love your neighbor as yourself. If our “why” in life is to love God with all our heart, then our “how” lies in loving our neighbor. In doing so, we live the Passion of Christ. Again, this is The Way of Padre Pio. We were created to love God; we express this by loving God and others: specifically, by laying down our lives for them.
REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING
Redemptive Suffering is the use of one's suffering as compensation for another’s sin. In Christian theology, it is the offer of Christ’s suffering and death as full payment for the justice demanded of God against sin. For Christians, it is the offer for God to place the consequences of another’s sin onto oneself, to make amends for that person and allow God to work graces into the life of the other without the hindrance of their sin. It is the offering of our suffering and sacrifice - freely given – united to the Sacrifice of the Cross – that redeems sin and makes reparation for it. The value of the reparation lies not in the suffering, but in the love that offers it; the value of the love lies in the intensity that tests the strength of that love. The greater the sacrifice, the purer the love. It is this sacrifice that proves our love for Him which then opens our soul to His will and Spirit. Each suffering leads us away from ourselves and closer to Him. In this sacrifice for another we become intercessors.
Offering reparation for others may include the willingness to take onto oneself the actual illness or circumstances of the person such as Padre Pio did. The reparation can also be a general gesture given to God to use as He wishes such as praying a novena. No action of our own can expiate sin. Only the sacrifice of the Cross can do this. It is when we unite our sacrifice with the sacrifice of the Cross, does it have power. The act itself is meaningless unless it is untied to the Cross. It is the cross that gives it value – the Standard that lives within the act. The Standard is the selfless love of God. His love, through the offering of our suffering and sacrifice, makes reparation for sin. We cannot take on another’s sin; we can only make reparation for the consequences of sin.
Saint Pope John Paul II explains Redemptive Suffering and the saint's role in the salvation of each other:
"Does that mean that the Redemption achieved by Christ is not complete? No. It only means that the Redemption, accomplished through satisfactory love, remains always open to all love expressed in human suffering. In this dimension - the dimension of love - the Redemption which has already been completely accomplished is, in a certain sense, constantly being accomplished. Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limits, but at the same time He did not bring it to a close. In this Redemptive Suffering, through which the Redemption of the world was accomplished, Christ opened Himself from the beginning to every human suffering and constantly does so. Yes, it seems to be part of the very essence of Christ's Redemptive Suffering that this suffering requires to be unceasingly complete."6 (Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, to the Priests, to the Religious Families and to the Faithful of the Catholic Church on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering (February 11, 1984)
FORMS OF REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING
Redemptive Suffering has many forms. The simplest form is surrendering our will to God. The Morning Offering Prayer guides us through this daily task.
"O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.”7
In this prayer we commit to God every act performed through the day to God to use in the manner He knows best. In this way, everything we do becomes holy. We become immersed in His life to the point where everything we do, we examine, so we can offer it to God. St. Pio reminds us, “We must give an exact account of every moment, of every grace, of every holy inspiration, of every opportunity to do good.”8 St. Mother Teresa taught us that every missed prayer, every missed act of kindness is one less drop of mercy in the sea of God’s love for all eternity.
A second form is the act of self-examination. We must be free of sin. As we present ourselves to God, we ask Him to illuminate our conscience. We cannot change what we do not know is wrong. By His grace, we offer the only thing that is ours - our will and intellect. In that, is the beginning of self-knowledge and the removal of all that is not of God from our lives. In the removal of such, great is our power to intercede. “I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering; an offering of the will. No other sacrifice can compare with this one”9 (Jesus to St. Faustina). As God shows us our wrongs and weaknesses through self-examination, we approach Him through Confession. In Confession, we are given prayers and acts by the priest to show repentance. We may be asked to perform an act to correct the sinful nature that caused the sin. This may include performing an act of kindness for someone we were impatient with. This allows God’s grace into that part of ourselves that allowed the sin to occur whereby we begin to decrease so He may increase.
A third form is obedience. Obedience to the Father’s will reveals our relationship to Him. Do I obey Him when He asks me to help carry His Cross, and nails me to it? Do I obey Him when He allows suffering in my life, and I cannot find Him anywhere? Do I obey when it costs me everything? It was through love and obedience Jesus lived His Passion out. Jesus granted St. Faustina a request through her obedience to her Confessor. “I have granted the grace you asked for on behalf of that soul, but not because of the mortification you choose for yourself, but because of the act of complete obedience to My representative did I grant grace to that soul for whom you interceded and begged mercy. Know that when you mortify your own self-will, then Mine reigns within you.”10 Herein lies the crux: in the darkest of times, in the silence of His voice, when obeying costs me everything I love, do I obey my will, or His?
A fourth form is prayer. Prayer is the door to the Father’s heart which, when done in the most difficult times of trial, can turn His heart toward the one praying. It is in the form of novenas, chaplets and, of course, the beloved Rosary. It is standing in His presence without uttering a word, a simple offering of one’s joyful or broken heart. Prayer can be offered as reparation, purification and in the veneration of saints as we ask for their intercession. A Novena said for nine days, a Rosary offered on our knees at the feet of the parish Madonna, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayed at the three o’clock hour, and skipping a meal to pray, are not only forms of prayer, but ways to make reparation for others. Our Lady at Fatima urged the children to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners and the offenses against her Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She gave the children a prayer to be said before a sacrifice and reparation were offered:
O Jesus, it is for Your love, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.11
When we pray for others, we intercede for them. Our prayers become intercessory prayers. The Mass is the greatest form of intercession because it is the greatest form of prayer. It is the Sacrifice of the Son of God. There is no greater power or entity than the Blood of Jesus covering a soul. It removes sin and its consequences. It empowers a soul with the Spirit of God. “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24 NABRE). Outside the Sacrifice of the Mass, our actions are nothing, until they are united with Him. In the Mass, we can intercede for those we pray for by offering them during the Intentions of the Sacrifice of the Mass. We can say,
“LORD, I offer ________ for the Intention of the Sacrifice of this Mass. Remove from them sin that hinders Your Grace. I offer my life as reparation, united to Your Sacrifice on the Cross.”
We can place them on the Altar at the time of the Offertory, and say,
“Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our LORD Jesus Christ, in atonement for the sins of ________.”
Few are called to be a Victim Soul to the degree St. Pio, St. Faustina and Mother Teresa were. These souls are so close to Christ, they bare His marks in some form. Their mission was to help Jesus bear His Cross and live out the motto: Not my will, but Thy will be done. Nothing happens, but first prayer.
WORK OF INTERCESSORS
God can work in a person's life without that person asking Him directly for help because another has interceded for them, and God honors that. God honors the intercession for another because the act of taking on the consequences of that other’s sin through suffering was done freely. It is an act of shear love and grace, done in the Standard of God’s Love. The consequences of that person’s sin through suffering are put onto the intercessor. This is what Christ did for mankind. Again, it can only be done when the suffering is united to the suffering of Christ on the Cross – the Standard of Redemption.
“My sacrifice is nothing in itself, but, when I join it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes all-powerful and has the power to appease divine wrath.”12 (St. Faustina)
This desire to offer oneself cannot come from within us as “I know that good does not dwell in me” (Romans 7:18 NABRE). It is His call in us – the Passion of Christ – that moves us. It is His Passion in us that moves us to bear another's physical, emotional or spiritual blight; it is His passion that moves us to deny ourselves to save another. This is what is meant in the verse, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13 NABRE). In offering to take another's consequences of sin through suffering, we redeem the other and pay the debt of that sin. We, then, "complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body" (Colossians 1:24 NABRE). We become Christ for them. The sin that prevents Christ from freely working in a person's life, Redemptive Suffering removes.
We cannot "save" another person, but we can intercede for them - through our suffering, united to Christ's suffering on the Cross. Through the sacrifice of Christ, sin is atoned, expiated. The Cross of Christ is the only altar the Father will accept as atonement for sin. Through the sacrifice of our suffering, the consequences of sin are amended. The effects of sin are removed from the person we are praying for and placed on us. We pray to God, as Padre Pio prayed, to lay on us the punishments that are prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory, so long as He converts and saves them.
In the laying down of our lives as intercessors, Christ may show us areas where we are lacking in Him, and where He desires a change. Before we can offer ourselves, we must let Him alter and purify us where He wishes, and allow us to “come up” to His standard. An offering of self must be clean of all blemishes. This is why self-examination and confession are important. Therefore, attend confession regularly, and pray:
“LORD, remove from my life all that is not of the Father. I ask this through the intercession of Mother Mary, St. Joseph and St. Padre Pio.”
In daily living, I ask Him to remove what is not of the Father in what I am doing at the moment. It makes all the difference, especially when what I am doing is frustrating, or doubtful.
REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING SAINTS
Throughout scripture there have been saints who offered themselves as reparation for others. These are Redemptive Suffering, or Intercessory saints. Moses, when God threatened to obliterate the Hebrews due to their stubbornness, offered himself as atonement for them (Exodus 32:30-34). St. Paul of Tarsus not only offered his sufferings for the Body of Christ, but did so gladly (Colossians 1:24). We may not be so bold in our offerings as the saints of old, but as St. Therese of Lisieux, we can offer the little things in our daily lives.
St. Padre Pio
Padre Pio knew the LORD was calling him to do exactly this: take upon himself the punishments due to those he prayed for so God could work in their lives. In the beginning, he did not know the extent of the Call. Saint Pio wrote about this to his superior:
"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… imploring on Him to lay on me the punishments that are prepared for sinners and for souls in Purgatory, so long as He converts and saves sinners.”15
The life of Padre Pio was one of Redemptive Suffering. His mission was to be Christ on earth as a Victim Soul. In that life, he was to offer his suffering for mankind through his wounds, illnesses, demonic and personal attacks. For 58 years, he offered himself for his spiritual children, unsaved souls and world events. As his spiritual children, we are called to do the same in whatever capacity God calls us to. When we offer our suffering for the purification of others, we ourselves are purified. St. Pio will assist us as we do this. Assuring a spiritual child of his help he said, “Rest assured that I will pray for you. Even after my death, I will remember you in my prayers.”16
This was the Passion of Padre Pio. It was the mission he asked for and received from Jesus when he was given the Stigmata. This must be our Passion, the Passion of Christ in us.
LIFE HAPPENS
As life happens, suffering becomes meaningful because we choose to offer it for another. The focus of our pain moves from us to the one we offer it for. When a suffering is offered, two spiritual graces occur: the suffering is placed into the Palm of God where Satan cannot touch it (Is. 49:16); the offering allows God to bring His Grace to another. The person who offers the sacrifice is sanctified; the person for whom the sacrifice is offered is sanctified. Suffering is used for purification. It is how God sanctifies us. However horrible the suffering is, given to our LORD, it has redemption. “I demand, My daughter, that your sacrifice be pure and full of humility, that I may find pleasure in it. I will not spare My grace, that you may be able to fulfill what I demand of you...accept all sufferings with love...All power rests in the will”19 (Jesus to St. Faustina).
* * * * *
When we offer our actions to God, at best, we move closer to Him; at worst, we keep Satan from using them against us. Either way, our actions are eternal. They count for, and against us. In His Hands, “We know all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NABRE).
We long to help those we love and care for, and gladly participate in the alleviation of their pain by offering up our own to allow God's Grace of healing in theirs. Jesus will not interfere with the free will of a person, but He will honor the suffering intercession of another as the Father honored and accepted the suffering intercession of His Son for all humankind. As we participate in the Passion of Christ, and complete His Redemptive work, we will be suffering for one another through the Passion, with the Passion and in the Passion of Christ. It is The Way of Padre Pio.
IN ST. PIO'S OWN WORDS
“You think you know my love for you, but you don’t know that it is much greater than you can imagine. I follow you with my prayers, with my suffering, and with my tears.”20
“Oh God, there is so much suffering, so much sickness. Please take away the sufferings of that poor man and give them to me.”21
“If you had even a part of the pain that I have, you would die.”22
“I am ready for anything, as long as Jesus is content to save the souls of my brothers, especially those He has entrusted to my care.”23
“I feel all your troubles as if they were my own.”24
“The angels are jealous of us for one reason only: they are not able to suffer for God. Only through suffering can a soul say with certainty: ‘My God, You see, I do love You.’”25
“The gift of our pain, of our sufferings is a great thing, which we cannot do in Paradise.”26
(Excerpts from The Way of Padre Pio, Christian Faith Publishing, 2023)
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6. Pope John Paul II. “Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, to the Priests, to the Religious Families and to the Faithful of the Catholic Church on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.” February 11, 1984. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/ documents/hf_jp- ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
7. Gautrelet, Fr. François-Xavier. "Morning Offering Prayer", Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Washington D. C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1989.
8. Pio, 2018, p. 7
9. Faustina, p. 358 (#923)
10. Ibid, p.164 (#365)
11. McGlynn, p. 204 (#482)
12. Michalenko, p. 110
15. Ruffin, p. 74
16. Allen, 2011, p. 145
19. Faustina, p. 627 (#1767)
20. Allen, 2011, p.233
21. Ibid, p. 62
22. Ibid, p. 262
23. Ibid, p. 222
24. Allen, 2012, p.65
25. Pio, 2018, p. 57
26. Pio, 2018, p. 49
QUOTES FROM THE SAINTS ON REDEMPTIVE SUFFERING
"My child, I have need of victims, and strong victims, who by their sufferings, tribulations and difficulties, make amends for sinners and for their ingratitude."
-Saint Gemma Galgani
"Many souls go to Hell because there is no one to sacrifice themselves and pray for them."
-Our Lady of Fatima
"The medicine by which He willed to heal the whole world and to soothe His wrath and Divine Justice was humble, constant, holy prayer."
-Saint Cathrine of Sienna
"If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things: one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering."
-Jesus to Faustina
"I have never made more progress in the spiritual life as when I began to devote myself to praying for others."
-Saint Therese of Lisieux
"My daughter, I want to instruct you on how you are to rescue souls through prayer and sacrifice. You will save more souls through prayer and sacrifice than a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone. I want to see you as a living sacrifice of love, which only then carries weight before Me... And great will be your power for whomever you intercede. Outwardly, your sacrifice must look like this: silent, hidden, permeated with love, imbued with prayer."
-Jesus to Saint Faustina
"Jesus has many lovers of His Heavenly Kingdom, but few cross-bearers. Many desire His consolation, but few His tribulation. Many will sit down with Him at table, but few will share His fast. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few will suffer for Him. Many will follow to the breaking of the Bread, but few will drink the bitter cup of His Passion. Many revere His miracles, but few follow the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus when all goes well with them, and praise Him when He does them a favor; but if Jesus conceals Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall to complaining or become depressed. They who love Jesus purely for Himself and not for their own sake bless Him in all troubles and anguish as well as in time of consolation. Even if he never sent them consolation, they would still praise Him and give thanks. Oh, how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, when not mixed with self-interest or self-love!"
-Thomas a Kempis
"The Missionary must die daily, if she wants to bring souls to God. She must be ready to pay the price He paid for souls, to walk in the way He walked in search for souls...I know what I want is above my strength - but He who has given me the desire will also give me strength to do the impossible."
-Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, to let yourself go, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely."
-St. Catherine of Sienna
RESOURCES AND INFORMATION FOR PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUPS, HIS MISSION AND HIS TEACHINGS
2023
"My child, I have need of victims, and strong victims, who by their sufferings, tribulations and difficulties, make amends for sinners and for their ingratitude."
-Saint Gemma Galgani
"Many souls go to Hell because there is no one to sacrifice themselves and pray for them."
-Our Lady of Fatima
"The medicine by which He willed to heal the whole world and to soothe His wrath and Divine Justice was humble, constant, holy prayer."
-Saint Cathrine of Sienna
"If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things: one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering."
-Jesus to Faustina
"I have never made more progress in the spiritual life as when I began to devote myself to praying for others."
-Saint Therese of Lisieux
"My daughter, I want to instruct you on how you are to rescue souls through prayer and sacrifice. You will save more souls through prayer and sacrifice than a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone. I want to see you as a living sacrifice of love, which only then carries weight before Me... And great will be your power for whomever you intercede. Outwardly, your sacrifice must look like this: silent, hidden, permeated with love, imbued with prayer."
-Jesus to Saint Faustina
"Jesus has many lovers of His Heavenly Kingdom, but few cross-bearers. Many desire His consolation, but few His tribulation. Many will sit down with Him at table, but few will share His fast. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few will suffer for Him. Many will follow to the breaking of the Bread, but few will drink the bitter cup of His Passion. Many revere His miracles, but few follow the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus when all goes well with them, and praise Him when He does them a favor; but if Jesus conceals Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall to complaining or become depressed. They who love Jesus purely for Himself and not for their own sake bless Him in all troubles and anguish as well as in time of consolation. Even if he never sent them consolation, they would still praise Him and give thanks. Oh, how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, when not mixed with self-interest or self-love!"
-Thomas a Kempis
"The Missionary must die daily, if she wants to bring souls to God. She must be ready to pay the price He paid for souls, to walk in the way He walked in search for souls...I know what I want is above my strength - but He who has given me the desire will also give me strength to do the impossible."
-Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, to let yourself go, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely."
-St. Catherine of Sienna
RESOURCES AND INFORMATION FOR PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUPS, HIS MISSION AND HIS TEACHINGS
2023