|
|
A lot of
Saints of the Catholic Church possessed the charisma that
allowed them to know distant things, or to view the future, or
to see and to sense distance space using their senses and their
normal intellectual abilities. Father Pio had the charisma of
this supernatural knowledge. Just looking at a person he could
see into the most secret parts of his soul. Many testimonies
suggest this was the gift of Padre Pio.
|
|
A woman from
Bologna (Italy) said: “Once my mother went to father Pio with
some of her friends. She met with Father Pio in the sacristy of
the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo as soon as he arrived. Padre
Pio told her: “Why are you here? Go home, your husband is sick”.
My mother thought she had left her husband in good condition.
Anyway, she went back home on the first available train. When
she arrived at home she asked about my father’s health. There
was no news. But during the night my father had serious
respiratory difficulties. Something pressed him in the throat.
That night, at eleven p.m. my father was hospitalised brought
into the operating room. The surgeon that operated on him
extracted from his throat at least two basins of pus. Father
Pio had seen in advance what would happen to this lady’s husband
and with his suggestion and prayer he had succeeded in
influencing the happy solution of the case.
|
|
A
spiritual son of Padre Pio who lived in Rome omitted out of
shame to make his customary small reverence when he passed near
to a church in the company of some friends. Suddenly he heard
Padre Pio’s voice saying: “Coward!” After a few days he went to
San Giovanni Rotondo, where he was reproached by Padre Pio: “Be
careful! This time I have only scolded you; next time I will
give you a slap.” |
|
One day at
sunset, Padre Pio was in the garden of the monastery. He was
chatting pleasantly with some of his spiritual children and
others of the faithful, when he realized his handkerchief was
missing. He said to one of those present, “Here is the key to
my cell. Please go there and get me a handkerchief.” The man
went to the cell but besides the handkerchief, he took one of
Padre Pio’s half gloves and put it in his pocket. He could not
pass up the opportunity to obtain a relic! But when he went
back to the garden and gave Padre Pio the handkerchief, Padre
Pio said to him: “Thanks, but now go back to the cell and put
back in the drawer the half glove that you put in your pocket”. |
|
A certain
lady used to kneel in front of a photograph of Padre Pio every
evening before going to bed to ask his blessing. Her husband, a
good Catholic, thought that the gesture was an exaggeration and
began laughing and teasing her each time she did so. Once he
told Padre Pio about his wife’s habit. “Every evening my wife
kneels in front of your photo and asks you to bless her.” Padre
Pio answered, “I know, I know…and you start laughing.”
|
|
A certain
man had the reputation of being a good Catholic, admired and
esteemed by all who knew him. Actually he was living in sin. He
had neglected his wife, and was now compensating for his
loneliness by a relationship with another woman. On one occasion
he went to confession to Padre Pio. In order to justify
himself, he started talking about a "spiritual crisis." But he
had not counted on facing an "extraordinary" confessor. Padre
Pio stood up at once and shouted, “What spiritual crisis? You
are a litterbug! And God is angry with you. Go away! |
|
A gentleman said, “I had decided to give up
smoking and to offer this small sacrifice to Padre Pio. Since
then, every evening, with the intact packet of cigarettes in my
hand, I stayed in front of his image telling him, ‘Father...it
is one...’ The second day, ‘Padre, it is two…’ Three months
later, I went to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio after
doing the same thing every evening. ‘Padre,’ I told him as soon
as I saw him, ‘I haven't been smoking for 81 days, 81
packets...’ Padre Pio said, ‘I know everything you know, you
made me count the packets every evening.’” |
|
A bus driver who was
transporting tourists on a trip to Gargano was in the sacristy
waiting to leave again when Padre Pio arrived. Although the bus
driver was in the middle of the group of about ten people, Padre
Pio noticed him and said, “Son, don’t you even ask for a
blessing?" The driver, amazed, stepped forward from the group
and knelt in order to receive Padre Pio’s blessing. But instead
of blessing him, Padre Pio asked him: “So, what have you done?”
– “Nothing Father, I haven’t done anything. I went to confession
when I was at Monte Sant’Angelo, and I have even attended Mass
with the tourists I am guiding. “And afterward?" - “I have
purchased some religious objects.” “Ah, it was not those holy
images that made you curse but those sweets!" The astounded
driver remembered that after the Mass he had cursed because the
number of nougats he bought turned out to be less than was
needed by the tourists. Mortified, he tried to say something;
but Padre Pio drew him far from the group and said, “That's not
all. On the road on the way to St. Giovanni Rotondo, you
slighted and offended a driver that you have met on your road..”
The man who said he hadn't done anything started to say an act
of contrition.
|
|
A lady
came from England to have her confession heard by Padre Pio.
She went to his confessional but Padre Pio closed the window
saying: “I am not available to you.” The woman stayed for
several weeks and during this time, daily returned to his
confessional and daily was turned away. Finally, Padre Pio
consented to hear her confession. She asked the Padre why he
made her wait so long to be heard. Padre Pio answered: “And
You?” “How long have you made Our Lord wait?” You should wonder
how Jesus could welcome you after you committed so many
sacrileges. You have delayed your judgment for years, besides
sinning against your husband and your mother you have received
Holy Communion in mortal sin. The woman was stunned and
reformed. She cried when she received absolution. She returned
to England a few days later, very happy. |
|
A gentleman tells this story. Once I ate too
many figs and I felt guilty about it. I thought I had committed
a sin of gluttony. Since I would have confession with Padre Pio
the next day I thought I would confess it then. The following
day as I was walking slowly on the road to the convent, I made
an examination of conscience. The sin of gluttony did not come
to mind. Padre Pio heard my confession but before concluding
and before the absolution I said to him, “I think I am guilty of
yet another sin but I can’t remember it.” “Don’t worry,”
he answered me smiling: “for two figs”. |
|
God sees
everything we do and we will have to give him a response for
everything we do. The following story illustrates that God knows
even our most hidden thoughts. In 1921 a man, who had belonged
to a gang of unrepentant criminals had decided to kill his wife
in order to be free to marry another woman. He put together a
plan that would provide him with a good alibi. His wife was a
devotee of Padre Pio who lived in the small town of Gargano.
Since no one in that town knew of him or his reputation he
thought it would be a good place to put his homicidal plan into
effect. One day he suggested to his wife that they make a trip
to Gargano and while they were there she could take advantage of
the opportunity to visit the Friar she admired so much. When
they arrived in the town, he left his wife in a hotel, and went
alone to the convent to arrange for her to have confession with
Padre Pio. He thought that while his wife was at confession he
would be seen in town to corroborate his alibi. He looked for
an inn where he would invite some of the town’s people to have a
drink with him. Then, he would make some excuse, leave the inn,
go kill his wife who had just left confession, and then later
return to the inn. The convent was surrounded by open country
and in the faint light of evening he felt sure no one would see
anything. The plan was perfect. When he reached the convent he
saw Padre Pio in the confessional. At this point he felt an
impulse that he couldn’t contain. He knelt in front of Padre
Pio’s confessional, and began to make the sign of the cross.
Before he finished, cries came from the confessional. “Go
away” Go away” “Go Away” “Don’t you know that it is forbidden
to kill somebody?” Then Padre Pio grabbed the man by the arm
and lead him away. The man was stunned, incredulous, and
dismayed. He ran away to the country where he tripped on a
boulder and fell face down in the mud. For the first time he
acknowledged the horrors of his life full of sin. After a while
he saw all of his existence and among the torments of his mind
he understood his inhumane wickedness. Tormented to the depths
of his soul he returned to church and asked Padre Pio to hear
his confession. Padre Pio consented and with endless sweetness
spoke to him as if he were an old friend. Padre Pio listed for
him his whole life, moment by moment, sin after sin, crime after
crime, everything in incredible detail, until he finally came to
his recent intention to kill his wife. The man listened to
Padre Pio speaking about the homicide that he had planned in his
own mind. He had never told anyone else about it. Exhausted
but finally free the man threw himself at the feat of the monk
and begged forgiveness. This was not the end. Before the
absolution was finished Padre Pio asked him, “You have desired
to have children haven’t you? Well, do not offend God anymore
and you will have a child”. The man returned a year later to
Padre Pio, totally converted and he had become the father of a
child who was born from the same wife he had wanted to kill.
|
|
The friar who was the Guardian of the convent
of St. Giovanni Rotondo related: "Last year a dealer from Pisa
came come to Padre Pio for a healing of his daughter. The holy
man looked at him and said: 'You are sicker than your daughter.
I see you dead.' 'No, no, no Padre, I'm very well' answered the
man. "Wretch!," Padre Pio cried. 'Unfortunate! How are you
well with so many sins on your conscience? I can see at least
thirty-two sins!' Everybody can image the amazement of the
dealer. After his confession, he told whomever would listen to
him: "He already knew everything and he has told me everything
about my life!" |
|
A priest told of an adventure that happened
to a brother of his who had travelled very far to go to
confession to Padre Pio. After his confession Padre Pio asked
him: "My son, do you have anything else to confess?" "No,
Padre." Padre Pio told him to look for something else to
remember. He examined his conscience again without success; he
could not find anything else to confess. Then, with sweetness,
Padre Pio told him: "Son, you arrived yesterday morning in
Bologna at 5.00 a.m. Churches were still closed. Instead of
waiting you went to the hotel to rest before Mass. You went to
bed and then you fell asleep so deeply that you woke up at three
o'clock in the afternoon, when it was too late to attend a mass.
I know you have not done it in malice, but it was a negligence
that hurt Our Lord!"
|
|
Because of the great crowds that went to see
Padre Pio, two policemen were assigned to the convent to protect
him. One day in the sacristy after the celebration of Mass,
while Padre Pio was disrobing the sacred vestments, he turned
smiling to one of the policemen and said: "As soon I have given
thanksgiving for the Mass and you are finished here, come to my
room because I have to speak to you." The policeman was very
happy for this invitation so, when he ended his service, he went
to Padre Pio's cell. Padre Pio told him: "Listen to me! In not
more than eight days you will die at your father's home, my
son." The policeman answered him: "But Padre, I am feeling
very well." But Padre Pio added: "Don't worry about it! You
will be better in eight days. What is this life? A pilgrimage.
We are on a train, my son! Ask your boss to go on leave to
enjoy your family...you are going to die...and your
relatives??? They do not know anything about this..." The
policeman, stunned by these words, asked: "Father, can I tell
what you have told me?" "Not for now," the Father answered,
"you can tell it only when you will be at home." The young man
went to the town of St. Giovanni Rotondo and he asked for
permission to go home. His boss did not want to grant him the
permission because there was no suitable motivation. However,
on Padre Pio's intercession, the policeman received the
permission to go home. When the policeman reached his house,
he told his parents: "I've come to greet you and Padre Pio has
told me that I will die." After eight days the policeman
died. |
|
The monks of the convent of Venafro, who
entertained Padre Pio a few times, were witnesses of other
inexplicable phenomenon besides the visions. While Padre Pio
was seriously ill, he was able to know the thoughts of people.
One day Friar Augustine went to find him. "This morning say a
particular prayer for me, " Padre Pio requested. Going down to
the church, Friar Augustine decided to remember the brother in a
special way during the Mass, but then he forgot to do it. When
he returned to Padre Pio, the Padre asked him: "Have you
prayed for me?" "I forgot to do it," Father Augustine
answered. Padre Pio told him: "Don't worry. God has accepted
the intention you made while you were going down the staircase."
|
|
Padre
Pio was solicited more than once to expiate the sins of a man.
Padre Pio, who was praying in choir, lifted his head and
severely says: "This man has made Our Lord wait for twenty-five
years to confess and he is not able to wait for me for five
minutes?"
It was ascertained that the fact
was true.
|
|
Padre
Pio’s prophetic spirit as told by Padre Carmelo, who was
Superior of the Convent of St. Giovanni Rotondo, is contained in
this testimony: “During the last World War, we spoke of the war
every day and of the uproarious military victories of Germany on
all the fronts of battle. I remember one morning I was in the
little parlor of the convent, and I read in a newspaper the news
that the German troops were moving by now in the direction of
Moscow. For me, it was important news; in fact, I saw in that
news that the war would end with the final victory of Germany.
Going out in the corridor, I met Padre Pio, and gladly I told
him shouting: “Father, the war is ended! Germany has won!” -
“Who has told you it?” asked Padre Pio. - “Father, the
newspaper,” I answered. - And Padre Pio said: “Germany has won
the war? Keep in your mind that Germany, this time, will lose
the war, worse than the last time! Remember it! “. I told him:
“Father, the Germans are already near Moscow.” He added:
“Remember what I have told you!” - I said: “But, if Germany
loses the war, Italy will lose the war as well!“ - And, he
emphatically answered me: “We will see if together they will end
the war.” - I didn’t understand those words, taking
into account the alliance of Italy and Germany, but the words
became clear the following year after the armistice with the
English and Americans of September 8, 1943, and the Italian
declaration of war against Germany.
|
|
A lady
said: “I wanted to take part in a trip to St. Giovanni Rotondo,
in order to meet and to approach Padre Pio. It was the year
1961. A man in the bus suddenly cried: “My wife wanted me to
bring her to this “impostor.” - The reference to the dear Padre
Pio was evident, for that insult had struck me to the heart.
When we arrived at St. Giovanni Rotondo, we immediately went to
the church to take part in Holy Mass. At the end of the Mass,
Padre Pio came toward us. When he was next to us, he stopped
just in front of the gentleman who had insulted him on the bus
and said: “Come here! Come to this impostor.” - The man became
pale; he knelt, and stammering, he said: “Forgive me Father!
Forgive me!” Then Padre Pio put his hand on his head and,
blessing him, added: “Stand up, I forgive you.” That gentleman
converted instantly to the delight of all present.
|
|
A lady told this story: “In 1945, my mother
brought me to St. Giovanni Rotondo to introduce me to Padre Pio
personally and let me confess to him. There were so
many people! Waiting
for my turn, I thought about what I had to tell him; but when I
knelt in front of him, my mind
went blank. The dear Father immediately
acknowledged my timidity and, he told me smiling: “Do you mind
if I speak for you? “I nodded, with a sign of the head, and
after in a moment, I was amazed. It didn’t seem possible! Padre
Pio told me, word by word, what I would have told him. I kept
calm, and mentally, I thanked him for having helped me to
experience one of his gifts. I submitted to him the health of my
soul and my body. He answered: “I will be your spiritual father
forever!“ I left with an immense joy in my heart. While I was
returning on the train and in the street, I smelled an intense
perfume of flowers that I will never forget!
|
|
A young man in Padova (Italy) approached
Padre Pio for a benediction but the Father looked at him and
told him: "Remove your communist partnership card from your
wallet (it was the time when the Russian communist regime was
persecuting the Catholic Church) together with the photos of
those bad women that you jealously preserve. Are you not ashamed
by such photos? ". "Yes, I am" - said the guy.
"And since you have intention to do cleaning,
remove also the pictures of the bad women in the drawer of the
table at home." |
|
A certain lady knew
very well Padre Pio. During a confession Padre Pio reproached
her. The lady said: "I can't remember well which was the reason.
When I went away from the confessional, I went to make the
penitence but rather than to industriously question my
conscience, I begged my protecting saints in heaven to leave me
to understand what the Father wanted by me.
I continued so for several days. In the
following confession Padre Pio told me: "You have gone around
the World by complaining."
"But, Father, I have not complained about
anything with anybody" - I said.
"Oh, really? Replied the Saint.
"For sure, Father".
And he said: "So, tell me, who have put the
heaven upside-down with her requests? ". |
|
Brother Pasquale said. One day leaving the
Railway station in Foggia I took a bus to go to St. Giovanni
Rotondo. While the bus was crossing the landscapes of Puglia,
Brother Pasquale thought: "This spiritual life sometimes looks
like we have to climb on the glasses!".
When he arrived at the convent and he entered
the sacristy, he asked to confess with Padre Pio.
His turn arrived and he went in beyond the
curtain of the confessional for the confession. After having
received the absolution, he was about to go out, but Padre Pio
told him smiling: "…so, Does sometimes this spiritual life look
like we have to climb on the glasses!?".
Brother Pasquale didn't say a word and he
understood Padre Pio was a man of God. |
|
Mr. Enzo said: "They had told me that you
could ask something to Padre Pio even with your mind during the
mass. I tried to do so. But at the end of the mass, after the
Saint had finished the thanks, I went to talk to padre Pio and I
told him: "Father, prays for my sister."
He said: "Have you already told it to me,
haven’t you? ".
Mrs. Lucietta said: "On 25, May it was Padre
Pio’s birthday. After the mass, while he retired in the
sacristy, Padre Pio should pass next to me. I told inside of my
mind, "Please, Lord save him for long."
After few days, at the end of the confession
I told him: "Best wishes, father, since I have not been able to
say to you on 25, May."
Padre Pio said: "You have already told me… ". |
|
Mrs. Alma
said: "Padre Pio was confessing the women and I was in the
church three or four meters far from him. During the day I would
not have had the possibility to speak to him. Then I said with
the thought: "Father, send a benediction to me. I need it."
I had just
ended to think my desire, when I saw that the Saint, moving
outside and making a sign of cross. Then he kept on confessing. |
|
It was the second time that Teresa saw the
Father. After the confession she went to the corridor of the
convent to kiss his hand. When Padre Pio arrived, he didn't stop
next to Teresa and he did not give her the hand. She could not
touch Padre Pio so she was dissatisfied and she complained in
her heart, without saying a word.
Then the Saint went back and paternally gruff
told her: "Please, kiss my hand otherwise I give to you a small
slap on the face." |
|
Mr. Joseph
of St. Giovanni Rotondo had fixed his date of wedding and he
went to the convent to inform Padre Pio. "Father I will get
married on September, 12th. It is the day devoted to
the holy name of Mary". - "No" - said the Saint - "You will get
marry the 8th of September, devoted to the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgo." The young man was amazed about Padre Pio
words. When he went home his mother told him: "Listen! Your
cousin has established to get marry on September, 12th.
As the guests in the majority are the same of ours, we have to
change the date of your marriage; it suitable to do it on
September the 8th." Joseph didn't say anything since
Padre Pio had already informed him about the change. |
|
A Padre Pio’s spiritual daughter’s father
went to St. Giovanni Rotondo. He was from Modena. It was the
first time that the father of the girl went to the convent. As
soon as he met with Padre Pio, the monk said: "You are Adriana's
dad, is it true? ". |
|
Father Atanasio Lonardo said: "We was in the
choir for the prayers and the meditation of the evening. The
superior of the convent gave the signal of the term of the
common prayer. Padre Pio said: "Pray for our Provincial father
that is in agony". We knew that Father Bernard of Apicella was
sick of bronchus-pneumonia, but we didn't know the serious state
of the illness. We prayed a long. The day after, December 31st,
1937, we knew that he was dead. After few months Padre Pio said
he had entered Heaven. |
|
Padre Pio knew what happened to
pope Pio XII after his death. On October 9 th 1958, the same day
when Pope Pio XII died in Castelgandolfo (Rome), sister
Pascalina Lehnert wrote a letter to St. Giovanni Rotondo to a
monk in order to know what was Padre Pio’s thoughts on Pope Pio
XII.
The monk who received the letter,
asked Padre Pio about the death of the Pope. Padre Pio, with a
face almost transfigured, said: “He is in Paradise”.
The monk, did not want to believe
and he asked again: “Have you seen him in Paradise?” and Padre
Pio answered: “Yes, I have seen him in Paradise”. |
|
About this event Father Agostino
of St. Marco in Lamis, annotated in his Diary on November 18 th
1958: "Padre Pio was very sad for the death of Pope Pio XII. But
Our Lord let him see the Pope in the glory of Paradise."
|
|
Father
Alberto D’Apolito met for first time with Padre Pio in 1917. He
said: “I was a boy when I went to the convent together with my
uncle to meet with Padre Pio. My Uncle was a monk and he was a
friend of Padre Pio from their schooltime. We arrived at the
convent and my uncle and Padre Pio greeted. Then, they started
speaking to each other. Suddenly Padre Pio asked me: Do you want
to become a Monk? I immediately answered: No, I don’t. I want to
become a salesian priest and I want to go to Rome like some
friends of mine. Padre Pio said: “I see” and he started speaking
again with my uncle.
The
visit finished and we were going to leave the convent when Padre
Pio gave his blessing and told the boy: “You will be a monk like
your uncle”. It was true. After several years, that boy became
monk. |
|
Father Alessio Parente said: "I
washed Padre Pio’s face and I helped him to go to bed. Then I
rummaged in the pockets of the suit to take some medal that he
always had in his pocket. I wanted to bring them with me in
memory of Padre Pio. But I did not find anything in the pocket.
The day after I went to greet him
and help wake him up. At that point I was surprised since he put
his hand in his pocket and he gave me some medal with photo by
telling me: “Keep them always with you for my memory”. I did not
tell him that I wanted to have some medals. |
Discernment
Padre Pio had the gift of Discernment. He was able
to recognize that a man was a priest or if objects had been blessed. The
phenomenon of “discernment” was one among many of his gifts.
|
One day a gentleman who wore a jacket, tie
and pants was in the sacristy with the others waiting for Padre
Pio’s arrival. This man was in the first row. When Padre Pio saw
him, he said, “Father, you came “disguised,” but you don’t have
to be ashamed. Next time, you can come dressed as priest.”
|
|
Padre Pio
told another young man who was wearing only pants and a sweater
that he should go away and come back wearing the cowl of St.
Dominic. Confused and embarrassed, the young man confessed in
front of everyone to being a Dominican priest.
|
|
Sometimes, when Padre Pio was shown objects
like Crowns of the Rosary, or asked to bless sacred images, he
returned some to the applicant with the precise statement: “This
has been already blessed.” He was correct.
|
|
Padre Pio was able to sense if water was
"blessed water". And if someone gave him a bottle water of
Lourdes' water without telling him where the water came from, he
would bring the bottle to his lips and kiss it.
|
|
Once the bus-driver from
Rome to whom Our Lady appeared in a cave at the three fountains
in Rome (the Virgin of the Revelation) went to meet with padre
Pio. He related: "When I was with him - we had never met before
- I handed him a little envelope without telling him what it
contained. Padre Pio took the envelope, held it to his breast
with passion and he didn't return it to me. The little envelope
contained some earth from the cave of the Three Fountains."
|
|
