Posted on 09/23/2012 12:51:01 PM PDT by marshmallow
Padre Pio (1887-1968) affords a striking modern instance of stigmata.
He was born Francesco Forgione into a peasant family at Pietrelcina, north-east of Naples. His parents lacked nothing in devotion, attending Mass daily, saying the rosary nightly and fasting three times a week. Although illiterate, they knew the gospels well, and passed on their knowledge to the children. (Francesco had an elder brother, Jack, and three younger sisters.)
By the age of five Francesco was exclusively religious. For play, he would sing hymns, pray and pretend to be a priest. For conversation, he turned to Jesus, the Virgin and his guardian angel. For combat, he fought off the attacks of the Devil. He was a solitary child.
At 10, Francesco heard a Capuchin preach and decided that he wanted to be a friar, “with a beard”. The local friary, however, demanded that he be further educated. His father, in order to finance a private tutor, went to work in America.
And so, in 1903, at the age of 15, Francesco took the habit of the Order of Friars Minor, assuming the name of Pius in religion, in honour of Pope Pius V, who had excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I.
In September 1910, after his ordination the previous month, Pius experienced pains in his hands and feet. He asked for his wounds – “an annoyance” – to be taken away, and found his prayer granted. “I do want to suffer,” he explained, “even to die of suffering, but all in secret.”
In 1911 Pius, apparently sick, was sent home from the monastery. It would be another five years before he was ordered to return to community life.
In August 1917 Pius was called up into the Italian Medical Corps; by October he had been placed in hospital himself. Early in 1918 he.....
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicherald.co.uk ...
Far from embracing Padre Pio, the Church heirarchy placed heavy restrictions on him and tried repeatedly to prove his stigmata were fake. But they failed. Padre Pio was a true man of God.
Amen.
Some scientists have proposed that the wrist cannot support body weight, ignoring the possibility, and probability, that the wrists were tied to the cross. To the Romans, the hand would be much more symbolic.
It was not a deliberate fake. Padre Pio was inflicted by not only stigmata to his hands, but lacerations in his side and feet, none of which, over the years, were ever infected. He was examined by more than one physician. His wounds were real. You should look up the instances of stigmata before you post such an opinion.
I’ve heard that he would tell you your sins in confession. Wouldn’t that be a trip?
Yes, Padre Pio spent his one and only earthly life in suffering and complete, and I mean complete, service to God. Any man or woman who does that, whether Catholic or Protestant, deserves respect and admiration.
We all have to realize that miracles weren’t something that just happened during Biblical times, they are happening every day. At mass today our priest was talking about Padre Pio and miracles. Our priest said that when he had made the decision to go to seminary, on his way he got cold feet. He stopped at a church to pray about it. He didn’t even know what kind of church it was, except that is was a Christian church because it had a cross out front. The day was June 24th. When he got inside the church, he discovered that not only was it a Catholic Church, but its name was Church of St. John the Baptist. The day this saint is celebrated is....June 24th. His prayers were answered.
You're right. There is a mountain of testimony from penitents related to Pio's ability to see their sins. He would often send them away without absolution until they fessed up to the sins he saw. It was a life-changing conversion experience for many of them, who truly turned their lives around as a result of the experience.
Given my own tendency to rationalize and sometimes block out past sins in the confessional, I would love to have a confessor with such a gift. Uncomfortable, for sure, but ultimately a blessing.
May God continue to bless you, Padre Pio.
“Padre Pio, Please pray for our country, and pray that our leaders keep the devil at bay!”
***
I join in your prayer.
I am not even catholic..but I know who padre Pio is...solders returning from WW2 spoke of him very very fondly
His story is documented by physicians..his stigmata disappeared completely 2 days before his death..
One mother pinned a picture of Padre Pio to her dying child’s hospital pillow and prayed to him. By morning the cancer that had ravaged her child was gone. It is explained as a miracle and I believe this is one of the miracles the Vatican considered for him to be canonized. He is truly blessed!!!
Just seeing the picture of him is very emotional.
THE HEALING OF [the eyes of] GEMMA DI GIORGI [by St. Padre Pio] [Ecumenical]
Padre Pio confided in young JP II that shoulder wound was his greatest suffering [Catholic C]
[Padre Pio's]Five Maxims for Living a Devout Life
[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] THEFT OF PADRE PIO RELICS ATTEMPTED
[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] Padre Pio’s healing power felt by local Catholic
Statue of Baby Jesus travels from Holy Land to Padre Pio's monastery
Saint Padre Pio's Christmas Meditation
Remembering Francesco Forgione -- a.k.a., Padre Pio
Pope: a life of prayer and charity like Padre Pio, against activism and secularisation [St. Pio]
Padre Pio's Secret: His Shoulder Wound
St. Padre Pio, Humanae Vitae, and Mandatory Abortion
Padre Pio, Priest and Victim [Ecumenical]
Details of first investigation into Padre Pio’s stigmata revealed [Catholic Caucus]
St. Pio of Pietrelcina [Padre Pio]
THE HOLY WOUNDS OF CHRIST & Padre Pio's Secret: His Shoulder Wound [Devotional]
Popular Italian Catholic saint exhumed 40 years on (Padre Pio's body in fair condition)
Letter 33 - Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, 16 November 1914.
Padre Pio and the Mother Co-redemptrix(CATHOLIC CAUCUS)
Saint Padre Pio letters #29Correspondence with Raffaelina Cerase
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St. Padre Pio During Mass
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Padre Pio: on Spirituality, Vatican II and the Novus Ordo Missae
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Cardinal Schotte (Head of the Synod of Bishops) and his view on Dallas; Rose petals for Padre Pio
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Padre Pio Wrestled with Devil, Predicted Future
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PADRE PIO DA PIETRELCINA
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St. Pio Of Pietrelcina, 1887-1968
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St. Pio Of Pietrelcina, 1887-1968
Padre Pio: on Spirituality, Vatican II and the Novus Ordo Missae
Padre Pio Now A Saint - Wrestled With Devil, Predicted Future
Padre Pio Wrestled with Devil, Predicted Future
Pope Bestows Sainthood on Padre Pio
Remarkable Transformation: Padre Pio
It was not fake. Of course, ignorant people who know nothing about it, and who lean toward foam-at-the-mouth bigotry will probably say otherwise.
Padre Pio, in memoriam of his passing on Sep 23, 1968
Thank you for the ping. I was one of the many Protestants who cheered when the Catholic Church canonized Saint Padre Pio. His stigmata were remarkable, but only one part of his extraordinary life. His greatest gift was as a confessor.
Nope. and his body has remained uncorrupted since his death.
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