“Pray, hope and don’t worry”

He was an Italian priest known for his piety and charity as well as the gift of Stigmata which has never been explained.

Born Francesco Forgione in 1887 of peasant farmers. He had one older brother and three younger sisters as well as two other siblings who died in infancy. As a child he was very religious and by the age of five, made the decision to dedicate his life to God.

His family attended daily mass and Francisco served as an altar boy. He took on penances and his mother scolded him for sleeping on a stone floor.

Even from a tender age he could see guardian angels, spoke with Jesus and the Virgin Mary which occurred to him so naturally that he assumed other people could see them as well.

He worked as a shepherd to help his poor family and fell sick frequently. He was unable to attend school regularly and fell behind. At the age of 15, he took the name Pio in honor of Pope Pius I and entered a friar while beginning to study for priesthood.

In 1910 he became a priest and in 1915 he was summoned for military service for WWI to serve with medical. He was so sickly that he was often sent home only to be recalled again but was dismissed one year later.

On September 20th, 1916, he was hearing confessions when he felt pain in his hands and feet. He noticed the Stigmata, the wounds of Christ, appearing on his hands and feet. The experience was painful with bleeding occurring and they smelled of roses. Although they continued to weep, they never became infected. Examining doctors were amazed at their perfectly round shape and by 1919, word began to spread about Padre Pio and people came from far away to visit him as he performed numerous miracles.

He became a source of concern for the Church and they began to restrict his activities which he welcomed as he was uncomfortable with his newfound popularity. A Church investigation concluded that the Stigmata condition was not faked.

By 1934, he was allowed to perform public duties once again and in 1947, Fr Karol Wojtyla visited him. Padre Pio prophetically told him he would rise to the highest post in the Church and he later became Pope John Paul II in 1978.

He became internationally famous for his piety, charity and quality of preaching. He had other illnesses which continuously plagued him and he died on September 23, 1968 with a funeral attended by over 100,000 people.

He is the patron saint of civil defense volunteers, adolescents, stress relief, January blues and Pietrelcina, Italy.

His feast day is September 23.

For God’s Glory.