Padre Pio died September 23, 1968, his funeral attended by over 100,000 people. During the fifty-eight years he was a priest, his monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, became a mecca for pilgrims from all over the world. Born Francesco
Forgione on May 25, 1887, at Pietrelcina in southeastern Italy, Padre Pio joined the Capuchin Order in 1903 and was ordained in 1910. On September 20, 1918 he received the sacred wounds of Christ, or the stigmata, which he bore the rest of his life.
Renowned for the stigmata, which modern medical science could not explain, Padre Pio also possessed other unusual qualities, such as bilocation, celestial perfume, the reading of hearts, miraculous cures, remarkable conversions and prophetic insight. Although he did not leave his monastery and was under obedience not to write or preach, this humble Capuchin monk became world famous for his piety, his counsel and his miracles, and he was universally regarded as a Saint in his own time.
Pope John Paul II beatified Padre Pio of Pietrelcina on Sunday, May 2, 1999 in St. Peter's Basilica Square before a throng of 650,000 devotees of this famed 20th-century stigmatist. In 2002 he was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church.
"Remember that God is within us when we are in His grace, and outside of us when we are in sin. " -Padre Pio
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Feast Day:
Roman Rite Calendar - 09/23
Patron Of:
Serenity
Also known as Francesco Forgione; Padre Pio of Pietrelcina Memorial 23 September Profile Born to a southern Italian farm family, the son of Grazio, a shepherd. At age 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, and joined the order at age 19. Suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. Ordained at age 22 on 10 August 1910.
While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.
His canonization miracle involved the cure of Matteo Pio Colella, age 7, the son of a doctor who works in the House for Relief of Suffering, the hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo founded by Padre Pio. On the night of 20 June 2000, Matteo was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital with meningitis. By morning doctors had lost hope for him as nine of the boy´s internal organs had ceased to give signs of life. That night, during a prayer vigil attended by Matteo´s mother and some Capuchin friars of Padre Pio´s monastery, the child's condition improved suddenly. When he awoke from the coma, Matteo said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: "Don´t worry, you will soon be cured." The miracle was approved by the Congregation and Pope John Paul II on 20 December 2001. Born 25 May 1887 at Pietrelcina, Benevento, Italy as Francesco Forgione Died 23 September 1968 of natural causes Venerable 18 December 1997 by Pope John Paul II Beatified 2 May 1999 by Pope John Paul II Canonized 16 June 2002 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy
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