Shrine of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Shrine of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina September 23, 2011
If there is a 20th century saint that has fueled the faith of a nation, it would have to be Saint Padre Pio.  Born in 1887 in the town of Pietrelcina in Italy, Padre Pio was a Capuchin Franciscan at the community of San Giovanni Rotondo in the region of Puglia.
I visited San Giovanni Rotondo on a regular Saturday of 2006 and the shrine was packed with pilgrims, almost all of them Italian.  The pilgrimage site includes the Capuchin convent with its small, older chapel.  Attached to it is a larger church built in the 1950s to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims arriving to San Giovanni Rotondo while Padre Pio was still alive.  In 2004 a new very large church was dedicated to meet the needs of the 7 million pilgrims who visit this small Italian town every year.
Padre Pio is mostly known for two spiritual gifts: the reading of souls and the stigmata.  Many who are still alive report Padre Pio read their souls while going to confession to him.  He received the stigmata for the first time in 1918 after Mass while praying in front of the crucifix of the choir loft of the convent church (pictured below).  The wounds bled throughout the years of his life causing him great pain and suffering.  He had special gloves made to hide the wounds on the palms of his hands and to absorb the blood coming out from them.
The saint is also remembered for founding a hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1956.  The hospital, called Home for the Relief of Suffering, is today a modern facility considered one of the best hospitals in Europe.
 
In 1968 Padre Pio died.  To most people he was a man of God, but some were highly suspicious of him, including church officials in Rome.  Padre Pio had been silenced and forbidden from celebrating Mass in public for some years at the request of Rome.  Many argued he was a fraud.  Yet there are stories of many of these unbelievers coming to San Giovanni Rotondo to spy on him or to trick him and ending up believing in the divine origin of Padre Pio’s ministry.
I believe the best irrefutable evidence of Padre Pio’s legitimacy is the number of conversions brought about through his ministry and the fueling of the faith of millions of Italians. Padre Pio’s obedience to the Church is also evidence of his legitimacy.  When he was asked to be silent, he remained out of public ministry while investigations were conducted.  He did not protest, he did not leave, he did not allow the gifts he received from God inflate his ego.
Canonized in 2002, his body was exhumed and put on display at the shrine in 2008.  The picture of his tomb below is from 2006, so you cannot see his body.
Saint Padre Pio, pray for us!

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.


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