Padre Pio's shoes - Because of the wounds of the
stigmata which pierced Padre Pio's feet, he had to wear specially made
shoes of soft leather with the top cut out. His feet were always very
swollen. His fellow Capuchins noticed that he sometimes rested his
weight on the edges of his feet and his heels so as to take the pressure
off of the center, where the wounds were. Padre Pellegrino who attended
him said, "Padre Pio's feet were very painful, so much so that I was in
a panic whenever I had to help him put on his shoes. It was enough to
touch his instep ever so slightly to cause him great pain."
"I am ready for anything as long as Jesus is happy
and will save the souls of my brethren, especially those He has
entrusted to my care."
-St. Pio of Pietrelcina
The beautiful sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace church
in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Padre Pio was sent to San Giovanni
Rotondo in 1916 and remained there until his death in 1968. Our Lady of
Grace is the Marian image most closely associated with Padre Pio. On
June 17, 2002, the day following Padre Pio's canonization, Pope John
Paul II spoke to a large gathering of pilgrims in Rome and said, "May
the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom Padre Pio called by the beautiful name of
"Our Lady of Grace," help us to follow in the footprints of this
Religious who is so beloved by the people."
"My heart is filled with a fire of love....It is a
delicate and very gentle flame which consumes without causing any
pain....this is a wonderful thing for me, something I will perhaps never
understand until I get to Heaven."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"I can only say that when I am close to Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament my heart throbs so violently that it seems to me at
times that it must burst out of my chest. Sometimes at the altar my
whole body burns in an indescribable manner. My face in particular seems
to go on fire."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"The altar was Padre Pio's spring-board for personal
growth in sanctity. It was also the place where he bargained with God
for an endless number of graces and favors for his neighbor."
- Fr. Fernando of Riese Pio X
"Padre Pio, with his silence, his prayer, and his
suffering, was a mystery of love, expiation, and salvation, for Italy
and for the world."
- Giorgio Berlutti
"I have been very close to Padre Pio during the
celebration of his Mass, when he seemed, at the Elevation, to disappear
in the Eucharist."
- Ferdinando Gambardella
"God is continually fixed in my mind and imprinted on my heart. I never lose sight of Him."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"For the feast of the Infant Jesus, my wish for you
is that your heart may be His cradle adorned with flowers where He can
rest without the slightest discomfort."
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
This chapel was built by the local country people of
Pietrelcina in the spot where Padre Pio received the invisible
stigmata. The marks of Christ's Passion appeared intermittently on the
body of Padre Pio from 1910 to 1918. Even when the external signs of the
wounds were not visible, the pain was always present. This was
considered a period of preparation for the visible stigmata which
occurred on September 20, 1918 and which lasted 50 years (1918-1968).
Padre Pio said, "I am suffering, it is true, and suffering very much,
but I am extremely happy, for even in the midst of this suffering the
Lord never ceases to make me experience inexpressible joy."
"Jesus, be the comfort, support, and recompense in
time and in blessed eternity, not only for me, but also for all those
souls which I love with paternal tenderness."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"Since only God knows whether we will finish this
year, we should spend it in reparation for the past and in preparation
for the future."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
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