Words of Padre Pio, A Modern Day Saint
I have blogged about St. Pio before, but after watching a DVD about his life last night I was inspired to blog about it today. The movie was called Padre Pio Miracle Man and was winner of one of the 2001 Los Angeles Film Awards. At 214 minutes long, it was definitely a marathon, but worth every minute! "Beautifully shot with picturesque Italian vistas, the film eloquently captures Padre Pio's simple spirituality of uniting one's life with Christ-especially in suffering." USCCB Film Office.
Padre Pio was a priest in the order of Capuchin friars of St. Frances in rural Italy . He received the stigmata early on in his priesthood. He was a mystic, a great confessor and had tremendous compassion for the sick and suffering. He opened a hospital that offered modern medical care to an area that was devoid of healthcare for the poor. He died in 1968 (when I was in the fifth grade and still going to Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Cedar Knolls, NJ.) Many miracles have been attributed to his intercession and he was canonized a Saint by John Paul 2 on June 16th 2002. Some 45 years before this date, Padre Pio predicted that the young Polish cardinal would someday be a pope, "a good Pope."
Oh! If all men could only understand the extreme wretchedness and dishonour from which God's omnipotent hand has rescued us. Oh! If we could only perceive for a single instant that which still amazes the heavenly spirits themselves, namely, the state to which God's grace has raised us, to be nothing less than His own children, destined to reign with His Son for all eternity!
When it is granted to a human being to fathom this, that person cannot live anything but a heavenly life. 0 wretched condition of human nature! How often would the heavenly Father not be willing to reveal His secrets to us were He not compelled to do otherwise, since by our own malice we have rendered ourselves incapable of receiving these secrets. May the Lord be pleased to put an end to such squalor and wretchedness. May Satan's kingdom come to an end once and for all and may justice triumph everywhere.
From a letter in 1914 of Padre Pio .
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 10:24 AM
6 Comments:
Our bookstore sold out of that DVD during Christmas. I might have bought a copy using my employee discount but I waited to long. Well, Father's Day is coming up so maybe if I start campaigning now....:-)
It must be a very tough job trying not to buy all the merchandise!
Another good reason to convert! Your family has a whole new source of gifts to buy you that up until now, were not likely to find their way into your home!!
God bless and happy New Year!
Adore TE Devote says:
Padre Pio has a connection to our family...he is our family Saint. My great-uncle was in WWII and happened to visit San Giovanni Rotondo while he was stationed in Italy. He became a friend of Padre Pio's, and it is my understanding that they continued to correspond. My uncle worked for the rest of his life for the canonization of this Saint. When he (my uncle) was very elderly, in a wheelchair, etc., he was still healthy enough to go to Rome for Padre Pio's beatification, I think it was 1997. He died shortly after that.
Thanks so much for the comment.
What a cool connection.
I am hoping to got to the national shrine nearby and spend some time in intercession.
Someday I need to go there, too.
Cool Padre Pio story:
On Thanksgiving, a friend of mine, future priest, came with me to my Mom's house. When I left my house, something told me to grab my Padre Pio prayer cards, as I have stacks of them, and I knew my friend had a devotion to him. So I arrived at my friend's home and gave him this humble gift. They are "outdated" in that they contain the prayer for Padre Pio's canonization, but the front has some sepia-toned photographs taken by my uncle and another guy...several different shots.
On our way to my Mom's, my friend revealed to me that he had been wondering if he was a spiritual son of Padre Pio, so asked the Saint for confirmation by way of someone handing him a prayer card. Very specific.
Well, then I arrived at his home and delivered a STACK of prayer cards!
I was humbled to be used as a courier on behalf of a heavenly resident. And my friend was amazed and humbled by the abundant answer to his simple prayer.
Do not be afraid to ask Padre Pio for assistance...he is certainly not afraid to respond!
What about my PadrePio's Version?
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