Padre Pio was born on May 25th, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Southern Italy. Entering the noviciate of the Capuchin Fathers at the age of 15, he was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in 1910. St Pio (or Pius, his proper name within his Order) was known for the zeal with which he exercised the pastoral ministry, the wisdom of his spiritual teaching and his deep compassion for those suffering in body or in spirit. The Saint himself was given a particular participation in the Passion of Our Lord in the form of the stigmata, which he bore from 1918. His own devotional life centred upon the Mystery of the Blessed Eucharist and the person of the Immaculate Mother of God. The “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, a healthcare facility in St Giovanni Rotondo, in the Italian region of Apulia, where St Pio lived from 1916, is an enduring element of his legacy. He died in 1968. St John Paul II, who had first met Padre Pio in 1947 when he paid a personal pilgrimage to St Giovanni Rotondo, developing a friendship and long association with the Saint, would later canonise Padre Pio in 2022.
“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because … these things … you have revealed to little ones” (Matt. 11:25). How appropriate are these words of Jesus, when we think of them as applied to you, humble and beloved Padre Pio. Teach us, we ask you, humility of heart so we may be counted among the little ones of the Gospel, to whom the Father promised to reveal the mysteries of his Kingdom. Help us to pray without ceasing, certain that God knows what we need even before we ask him. Obtain for us the eyes of faith that will be able to recognize right away in the poor and suffering the face of Jesus. Sustain us in the hour of the combat and of the trial and, if we fall, make us experience the joy of the sacrament of forgiveness. Grant us your tender devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother. Accompany us on our earthly pilgrimage toward the blessed homeland, where we hope to arrive in order to contemplate forever the glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
From the homily preached by St John Paul II at the canonisation of Padre Pio in 2022.
(Image: Adapted from Roberto Dughetti’s drawing of St Pio, 1966.)