Padre Pio: Bearing the wounds of Christ

If you have the impression that sainthood is a life of ecstasy, and that saints are blessed from the moment they were born, you must learn of the life of Saint Padre Pio de Pietrelcina on the occasion of his feast day.

Sainthood is both a calling and a life of discernment. In the case of Francesco Forgione, the future Padre Pio, the calling was written on the wind; it was a howl in the wilderness, a small voice deep within him while tending a flock of sheep on pasture in their small farm in the Italian countryside. But while it was to bring him joy in partaking of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it was also a torture, a life of scrutiny, of a constant check on his sanity, a verbal tussle with the devil in the very recesses of the Capuchin friary in Morcone, Italy . It was even meant to put him in shame, of a life of segregation.

“I don’t want to die in rejection, I don’t want to die a lonely man,” cries Padre Pio as portrayed by Sergio Castellito in the movie “Padre Pio: Miracle Man” which won the Audience Award at the 2001 Los Angeles Italian Film Awards.

Though he suffered persecution from Church officials who distrusted him, Padre Pio endured the trials simply because he “loves the Church”. It was a love that taught him to submit, a love that lifted up the spirit of obedience. Sainthood is not about holiness all along, or infallibility; it is knowing all too well that one has to be purged first of the mundane before attaining a life of purity. It was a love that made Padre Pio tremble in physical pain when he literally bore the Stigmata of our Lord.

When giving thanks after Mass in the choir-loft of the little friary church of San Giovanni Rotondo on September 20, 1918 under the gaze of Our Lady of Grace, he was marked with the five wounds of Our Lord’s crucifixion. He was to become the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

“I saw before me a mysterious person. His hands and feet and side were dripping blood. This sight terrified me and what I felt at that moment is indescribable. I thought I should die and really should have died if the Lord had not intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest,” Padre Pio said.

“The vision disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were dripping blood too. Imagine the agony I experienced and continue to experience almost every day. The heart wound bleeds continually for fifty years, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday,” he added.

But Padre Pio’s suffering was not only physical. His interior trails came in the form of “violent and assiduous” temptations against faith, hope, and purity coupled by the problematic environment which surrounded him – disputes, noisy manifestations of the crowds, accusations of sowing fanaticism among devotees, medical check-ups imposed by ecclesiastical and religious authorities; and then the supreme test – complete segregation from the faithful, the suspension from any and every sacred office except the Mass, which, however, was to be celebrated in the internal friary chapel from June 11, 1931 to July 5, 1933.

He too had to endure against the mystical phenomenon known as the “dark night of the soul”. It represented the ultimate test of holiness because the creature is to be detached from everything, even from spiritual joys, and should give himself to God unconditionally.

Through prayer and meditation, Padre Pio overcame the attacks of the devil.

“Pray, hope and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. One searches for God in books. One finds Him in meditation,” Padre Pio said.

Through his unparalleled love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, many souls were attracted to his confessional and received spiritual guidance. Miracles and healings have been attributed to his intercession.

Marked by long hours of prayer and continual austerity characterized by over half a century of intense suffering and apostolic activity in San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio met his Creator on September 23, 1968. He was buried just four days after he died at the San Giovanni Rotondo Shrine.

Novena Masses began last September 14 until tomorrow, the 22nd at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Archbishop Residence Compound, D. Jakosalem Street starting 6 p.m. A procession is scheduled today at 4:30 p.m. with the Shrine of Blessed Pedro for place of assembly, to move towards Ramos St. to Gen. Maxilom ( Mango Avenue ), to D. Jakosalem St. , then back to the Shrine. A Pontifical Mass on Sept. 23, the feast day, will be held at the Sacred Heart Parish Church along D. Jakosalem St. at 6 p.m. to be offered by Calbayog Bishop Isabelo “Boy” Abarquez. Veneration and kissing of the Relic will follow after the Pontifical Mass. For inquiries, contact the Padre Pio Contemplative Community of Cebu through either of these numbers 09173254669 or 09206399953.