Little known
stories of St Padre Pio
Amazing
testimonies of the holy life of St Padre Pio
“So it was all just a dream, eh?”
A married couple
who couldn't have children began to turn to Padre Pio so he could
intercede for them before the Lord. Not long afterwards, the young woman
became pregnant and was extremely worried she would lose the child. One
night not long before she was due to give birth, she had a comforting
dream. She was in the maternity operating room and before the
gynecologist came in she saw a man with a beard standing in a comer of
the room, looking at her and smiling. Then she woke up. Judging by
photos that she had seen, she thought the man resembled Padre Pio. She
spoke about her dream to everyone; for her it had become almost an
obsession.
A few days later,
a baby boy was born and all went perfectly well with no problems.
After a few
months, the happy mother started to plan a trip to San Giovanni Rotondo;
for she wanted to see for herself if Padre Pio, whom they had prayed to,
really did resemble the person she had seen in her dream, and if so to
thank him.
Her husband,
seeing how fervent she was about the matter, tried to calm her down, and
had repeatedly kept saying: "Don't worry, it was all just a dream,
just a dream--just a dream nothing else".
At last, they
made the trip. When they arrived at San Giovanni Rotondo the couple
took their place in the cloister where Padre Pio would pass. When after
a moment the Saint arrived, he stopped near the husband, looked at him
kindly, and then gently patting his shoulder, and with a wide smile said
in an ironic and somewhat amused tone: "So, it was all just a
dream, eh?".
(Testimony of
Anna Baroni from Chiavari, Italy, 8/12/1994)
“See how much glory is being given to God!”
Father Antonio
Durante from Monterosso, a capuchin friar also had the chance to observe
how Padre Pio read his thoughts on one occasion.
One day while
walking with the Padre in front of the friary he noticed that Padre was
the object of much affection and devotion from the people. Seeing this,
Fr. Durante said to himself: "How can this man resist the temptation of
vanity and of feeling pleased with himself'?
He had just
finished saying this to himself when the Saint turned towards him,
smiled and softly said to him: "See how much glory is being given
to God!"."
(Testimony of Fr.
Antonio Durante, born August 7, 1912 and died June 11, 1970.
Testimony is given in Genoa by Fr.
Riccardo Geminiani, capuchin friar, April 20, 1995.)
"So, the spiritual life seems like climbing glass, eh?"
Father Pasquale
Cattaneo also gives us a testimony showing Padre Pio’s ability to read
hearts. Fr.Cattaneo had received permission from his superiors to visit
San Giovanni and to go to confession to Padre Pio. During his bus trip
he prepared himself with a good examination of his conscience so as to
be ready to make a sincere confession of his sins. With the help of the
Holy Spirit he looked into every comer of his soul, and made new
promises of amendment. However as the bus going to the Gargano was on
the last part of the journey and the town came into view, he ended his
examination perplexed thinking: "The spiritual life at times seems
like trying to climb glass."
When he arrived
at the friary, he went into the sacristy and told the friar who helped
with the confessions that he had come to confess to Padre Pio and
afterwards he patiently waited for his turn. When the time came he
entered the confessional, greeted Padre Pio and made his confession.
After confessing his faults, Padre Pio gave him absolution. He then
arose, feeling happy that he had made a sincere confession, when he
turned one last time and glanced at the Padre--the Padre smiled at him
and with an amused look he wittingly said: "So, the spiritual
life seems like climbing glass, eh?"
Father Pasquale
was flabbergasted and couldn’t seem to utter a word, but from then on he
was absolutely convinced that Padre Pio was enlightened by the Holy
Spirit to guide souls.
Thus it is a very
unusual truth that P. Pio could at times perceive what his spiritual
children were thinking, even without them giving explanations to him.
(Testimony of Fr.
Pasquale Cattaneo, Fiera di Primiero, Italy, July 31,1988)
A remarkable blessing
A woman named
Alma De Concini had completely put herself into the Padre's hands to be
led to God; here is her testimony:
"Padre Pio was
confessing the women and I was in the church at three or four metres
from him. That day I definitely would not have had the chance to speak
to him, so I spoke to him interiorly, saying: "Father, send me a
blessing. I really need one".
I had just
finished expressing my wish when I saw the Saint move from the
confessional window grate which hid his face; he looked directly at me
and then made the sign of the cross. Then he turned back and bowed his
head once more to continue confessing."
(Testimony of
Alma De Concini, Terzolas, Italy, July 23, 1995)
"Go ahead then and kiss it, before I give you a little smack."
Another woman
named Teresa Venezia gives her statement:
“After confession
I waited in the cloister corridor to be able to kiss his hand as he
passed by. (The faithful always desired to kiss the stigmatized hands of
P. Pio, as they considered this a great privilege and blessing –editor).
When Padre Pio arrived he did not stop near her, so she was unable to
kiss his stigmata. She immediately felt very saddened and deeply
lamented about this in her heart. Suddenly, the Saint turned back,
walked up to her, held out his hand, and like a father with a light
smile he gruffly said: "Go ahead then and kiss it, before I give you a
little smack."
(Testimony of
Teresa Venezia, Tolve, Italy, October 19,1986)
"How many times you called out to me!"
Testimonies also
show that P. Pio listened to the voice of his spiritual children even
when they were far from him.
Father Valentino
was a capuchin friar from San Marco in Lamis who was a spiritual son of
Padre Pio and was very devoted to him. During the second world war he
was in Emilia Romagna while the Gothic line of the German Army was
encamped on the Apennines, thereby dividing the region in two. Because
of this separation, he hadn't heard from his family who lived in Puglia
for a long time. So one day he finally decided to try to cross over and
head for his family in the South. However, it was of course necessary to
cross the military front, and to do so was very, very risky. He knew
some people who were fighting against the Germans so he asked them for
help and advice about what to do. They indicated a way through the
mountains but warned that is was very dangerous. Additionally, it was in
the middle of the winter and very cold. There were a few others also who
longed to be united with their separated loved ones so together the
group set a date. The day arrived and Fr. Valentino said to
himself--"It's now or never”.
So together with
a few others he set off walking. He prayed to God for the groups safety
and in prayer he also sought the intercession and help of Padre Pio.
Eventually the group came to a very high place in the mountains where
the path was narrow and covered with snow. At this point the path
descended down a steep slope. When Fr. Valentino was about halfway down
the slope, he placed one of his feet wrong and suddenly started to
slide.
"Padre Pio help
me; Padre Pio help"
he cried as he was sliding down. Suddenly, a bush broke his fall.
The others helped
him back up and he was able to continue his journey and eventually the
group crossed the military line safely, without being discovered. When
he reached San Marco in Lamis, after resting a few hours, he wished to
go to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio. As soon as Padre Pio saw
him he said: "How many times you called out to me the other
night!..how many times!"
The Saint then
held him close to his heart and said: "Let us together thank the
Lord"
(Testimony of Fr.
Valentino from San Marco in Lamis. San Severo,
Italy, April 8,1992)
"That night on the roofs!"
The testimony
that follows is more on the lighter side and rather funny, even for the
person concerned:
Father Nello
Masini, a priest of the Giuseppini of San Leonardo Murialdo, met Padre
Pio in the 1950's and became one of his affectionate spiritual sons,
thinking very highly of him. He often went down to San Giovanni Rotondo
to stay a while with the Saint.
He tells us that
during one summer he went to Veneto
to take part in a spiritual retreat with his confreres.
He was quite
chubby and well built and when he went to bed he snored extremely
loudly. Because of this, his fellow brothers put him in an isolated room
at the bottom of a long corridor, far away from everyone, so he wouldn't
disturb anyone.
One night poor
Father Nello, went out of his room to go to the bathroom and went into
the nearby toilet, but closing the door too forcefully he
unintentionally fastened the outer latch.
After satisfying
his need, he wished to go out, but he realized that he was trapped
inside. He started to call for help but no one could hear him.
Losing all hope
of being rescued, he climbed on a stool and looking out of the window
saw the roof which was facing the rooms. He decided to try this way out,
hoping he would find some window open. He squeezed into the little space
available to him but his 120 kilos were not of help and he got stuck
halfway. Helpless and knowing there was no one around to help him, his
thoughts went to Padre Pio whom he called upon in thought and prayer.
Finally after a
short time he suddenly found himself outside on the roof top, without
realizing how.
Holding onto the
wall carefully and watching each step to avoid falling down into
emptiness, he finally reached the windows. The first was closed but the
second one—that of the reading room, was opened. Gratefully, he was
finally able to go back to his bedroom.
The next morning
he awoke thinking "It was a very good thing that Padre Pio helped me
last night."
After a few
months he returned once more to San Giovanni Rotondo to see and greet
the Padre. He found him on the verandah praying.
He went towards
him to kiss his hand. As soon as he saw him the Saint looked at him,
smiled and exclaimed: "Don Nello, Don Nello, that night on the
roofs!"
(Testimony given
by Carla Riceputi of Spronelli, the priest's niece. Given at Cesena,
Italy on November 29, 2001)
"If you cry, I won't come to your house any more" -The miraculous cure
of Paolo Nigro.
Paolo Nigro
received a degree in Humanities in 1936 and took a second degree in
Philosophy in 1940. He considered himself an atheist and his Philosophy
thesis was a denial of the existence of God. He later taught in high
school, all the while maintaining his ideas. His wife however was
strong in her faith. Because she was an orphan, she had been brought up
and educated in a convent run by Carmelite nuns and she had stayed
there until she was twenty-two. Together they made their home in Taranto.
When Paolo was
still very full of intellectual vigor and feeling quite fit, he was
suddenly struck by an grave illness. He had a dry pleurisy and in the
spring of 1950 it was bringing him close to death; the doctors in fact
had eventually declared they could do nothing more for him.
Saint Padre Pio,
pray for us!
