Our Friends in High Places

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Feast Day: September 23 My friend Blanca, recently back from a trip to Italy, brought me a statue of Padre Pio.  It prompted me to want to learn more about this modern-day saint --  canonized in 2002 -- who walked the earth less than 40 years ago. Francisco Forgione was born in 1887 to shepherd parents in Pietreclina, a farming town near Naples.  He acquired the name Padre Pio after joining the Capuchin Friars.  As a child, he could see and converse with Jesus, Mother Mary and his guardian angel, and assumed that everyone else could too. While in prayer one day in 1918, Padre Pio received the Visible Stigmata, the wounds of Christ.  (St Francis of Assisi was the only other person to receive these five physical marks of the crucifixion).   The painful, bleeding wounds had the fragrance of a floral perfume, a saintly trait known as the odor of sanctity.  They would be his daily companions for the next 50 years.

Pio by John Petermeier

As his ministry at San Giovanni Rotondo grew, Padre Pio spent up to 19 hours each day saying Mass, hearing confessions and engaging in correspondence.  At one point, he was receiving 5000 letters a day!   His most famous advice:  “Pray, Hope, andDon’t Worry!  Worry is useless.  God is merciful and will hear your prayer.  Prayer is the key that opens the heart of God.”

His gifts included miraculous healings, prophecy, bi-location, reading of hearts, and conversion.  Countless blessings have been attributed to his intercession both during and after his lifetime.

Padre Pio said it was his heartfelt desire to accept “all of America” as his Spiritual Children.  “My prayers for you will never be lacking.  I love my Spiritual Children as much as my own soul and even more.”   He promised that he would wait near the gates of heaven until each of his children was safely inside.  He is also the patron saint of adolescents.

Throughout his life Padre Pio had a very close relationship with Mother Mary.   He advised: “Love the Madonna and pray her Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today.  She is the mediatrix for all graces.”  Padre Pio himself, amazingly, prayed a 15-decade rosary at least 35 times each day concurrent with his priestly duties.

Reading about Padre Pio caused me to recall that I already had his holy card and three candles with his image, symbolic representations that had been nearby but unused.  I asked myself ‘Why not focus on and reciprocate the love of such a heavenly friend?’  So I started a 9-day novena to him and lit his candle.  I then bought a dozen roses to honor Mother Mary. 

Saints like Padre Pio encourage a more tangible and present relationship with God.  They embody the grace of the Holy Spirit in a way that touches all whom they meet in prayer.  They inspire us to go higher.  And they are accessible all the time… we just have to give them our attention and ask for their intercession.