Padre Pio

Padre Pio was born on May 25, 1887 in the town of Pietrelcina, very close to the city of Benevento, in Italy. He was one of seven children of Grazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa De Nunzio. The day after his birth he was baptized with the name Francisco and, later, he would, in fact, be a great follower of Saint Francis of Assisi. As a child, he was very assiduous with the things of God, having an unparalleled admiration for Our Lady and her Son Jesus, who saw them constantly due to their familiarity. It was Jesus and Mary who appeared to him when he first received the painful wounds of Christ in 1910. As a child, he had become friends with his Guardian Angel, whom he often turned to to help him on his journey along the paths of the Gospel. The story goes that he often recommended people to turn to their guardian angel, thus strengthening the intimacy of the faithful with the one who would become the first priest in the history of the church to receive the stigmata of Christ on Calvary. At the age of twelve, he received the sacraments of first communion and confirmation. At the age of fifteen he entered the novitiate in Morcone adopting the name "friar Pio"; After completing his novitiate year, he took simple vows in 1904; in 1907 he formulated the profession of solemn vows. He attended classical studies and philosophy. He was ordained a priest on August 10, 1910 in the Duomo of Benevento. During his first years as a Capuchin friar, frequent health problems forced Padre Pio to make regular visits to his home to receive care from his mother, whom he affectionately called "Mama Peppa". He suffered from intense chest and back pain, frequent headaches, high fevers, lung and stomach problems. These symptoms inexplicably disappeared when he returned. After his ordination, his health problems forced him to remain at home until 1916. When he returned that year, he was sent to the Convent of São João Rotondo, where he lived until his death, In the most urgent and complicated cases, the saint of Pietrelcina said: "These are only Our Lady", such was his trust in his Heavenly Mother whom he loved so much and wanted to obtain her virtues. Realizing that his mission was to accept the suffering of the people within himself, he received the signs of the Passion in his own body as confirmation from Christ. His mission was marked within himself. God wanted him to alleviate the suffering of his people. Giving himself entirely to the Ministry of Confession, he sought through this sacrament to alleviate the atrocious suffering in the hearts of his faithful and to free them from the clutches of the Demon who was known to him as "bluebeard". Tortured, tempted and tested many times by him, he was well aware of his cunning in his eagerness to divert God's children from the path of faith. Realizing that he should not only alleviate spiritual suffering, he received from God the inspiration to build a large hospital, the well-known "House for the Relief of Suffering", which would become a reference throughout Europe. Even with his priestly ministry victimized by unjustifiable slander, his heart towards the Church for which he had great appreciation and admiration did not soften. He knew very well how to distinguish where the slanders came from, which were coming from some in the Church, and not from the mother and teacher Church whom he loved so much. At the request of the Holy Father, due to the horrors caused by the Second World War, he created Prayer groups, true catalyst cells of God's love and peace to be dispensers of such virtues in the world that suffered and anguished in the dark valley of tears and sufferings. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the prayer groups, a Mass was celebrated with this intention. This Mass would be the path to his definitive Calvary, where he would hand over his soul and body to his great lover; the last time their spiritual children would see the priest they loved so much. It was early in the morning on September 23, 1968, in his convent room with the rosary between his fingers repeating the names of Jesus and Mary, he who had embraced the cross of Christ rests in peace, making it the connecting bridge between earth and the sky. Gentle death of those who had completed the mission, of those who would now return to the bosom of the Father in whom they trusted so much. Today there are many people who have joined the ranks of their devotees and spiritual children in various prayer groups that have spread throughout the world. It is Padre Pio himself who says: "I will remain at the gate of Paradise until the last of my children enters.", Padre Pio was very energetic in his confession, to the point of denying absolution to many. He could see in the eyes that the person was not sorry. One day, a young man said he was crying because he had not received absolution. Padre Pio told him that he was doing this so he could go to heaven, because he had not repented. People who were reprimanded by Padre Pio felt compulsion in their hearts. They came back and were deeply touched in their hearts. The non-absolution brought to their hearts the desire for a change in their lives and authenticity, He is 81 years old, 1.80 tall, has the appearance of a harmless old man, is thin, has a white beard, bald with white hair, white skin.