On May 25th, 1887 a young boy by the name of Francesco Forgione was born in the small farm town of Pietrelcina, Italy. Francesco came from a very faithful family, and they noted that from a very young age he showed exceptional spirituality and faith. He loved attending church, and dedicated his life to God at age 5. From before this age and beyond, he was constantly praying and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a child he was able to see and communicated with his guardian angel. He was also consistently communicating with Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. When this was discovered, he was surprised to know that this was not regular, and that not everyone experiences these gifts. At age 15 he attended the noviate of the Capuchin Order of the Friars Minor in Marcone, Italy. The other students at the noviate noted that he had a profound love for prayer, which set him apart from them. Francesco Forgione was ordained on August 10th, 1910, officially entering priesthood. During his initial years of priesthood, he found that celebrating mass was his most spiritually rooted activity. His masses often lasted several hours, with many emotional pregnant pauses in his speech. When he was criticized for the length of his mass, he insisted that he simply could not do it any other way. Many of the people who met him were struck by his impression. They said that the short time they spent with him changed their lives. Throughout his life, he was in poor health, and credited it to a “special permission of God.”

The first marks of stigmata appeared on his body on Friday, September 20th, 1918, when he was praying with a crucifix and giving thanks after a mass. These stigmata are marks of the wounds of Christ, appearing as holes in the hands, feet, and his side. They duplicate the wounds of Christ when he was crucified. Just after being ordained, Padre Pío appropriately told his spiritual director that he wanted to dedicate his life and death for the sinners of the world, and that he felt that it was God’s intention for him. He was only 31 when he wore the wounds of Christ on his body. He was the first priest ever to do so, and lived for 50 years with the wounds. Along with the stigmata, Padre Pío was given many gifts from God that took the form of miraculous talents. He humbly credited them as undeserved gifts from the Lord. Some of these abilities include:

• healing
• bilocation (appearing in person in two places at the same time)
• prophecy
• miracles
• discernent of spirit (telling holiness from evil)
• abstinence from normal human need for sleep and nourishment
• ability to read hearts
• speak and understand languages which he had never studied
• gift of conversions
• sees angelic beings in form

Padre Pío’s poor health eventually led to his death in September of 1968. After his death, the marks of stigmata had disappeared, without even leaving a scar. The sadness surrounding his death echoed throughout the Catholic community, but his impact lasted. He often spoke of his impact after death being greater than that during his lifetime. That impact became even greater when he was Canonized in 2002. Canonization is the process of declaring the most important of Catholic figures as Saints. On June 16, 2002, Pope John Paul II declared Padre Pío of Pietrelcina as a Saint, cementing him as one of the most holy an important people in the catholic faith.


Sources:

http://padrepiodevotions.org/a-short-biography/

http://www.ewtn.com/padrepio/saint/Cause_highlights.htm

Tags: Padre Pio, Catholic, Miracle, Miracles, Saint Pio, fr. Pio