Padre Pio started to have apparitions when he was a
child. The little Francesco didn’t speak of it because he believed that
the apparitions normally happened to all people. The apparitions were of
Angels, of Saints, of Jesus, and of Our Lady, but sometimes, also of
devils. In the last days of December, 1902, while he was meditating on
his vocation, Francesco had a vision. Here is the description that he
gave several years later to his confessor. “Francis saw on his side a
stately man of rare beauty, shining as the sun, that picked him up by
the hand and encouraged him with the precise invitation: ‘It is
convenient for you to come with me and fight like a good warrior.’ He
was conducted to a spacious country, among a crowd of men divided into
two groups: on one side were men with very beautiful faces and dressed
in white dresses, candid as the snow. On the other side there were men
with horrid faces and dressed in black dresses; they looked like dark
shades. Francesco was situated in the middle of these two groups of
spectators and he saw that a tall man, so tall that he could touch the
clouds with his forehead and with an ugly face, came toward him. The
character that shined exhorted Francesco to fight against this monstrous
character. Francesco prayed in order to avoid the fury of the strange
character but the bright character didn’t disappear: ‘Your resistance is
useless. It is worthwhile to fight against this bad character. Please,
be faithful and enter confidently in the struggle. I will be nearby you;
I will help you and I won’t allow him to defeat you.’ Francesco agreed
and the fight was terrible. With the help of the bright character that
always was nearby him, Francesco won the fight. The monstrous character
was forced to run away and he dragged with him the big crowd of men with
horrid faces, among howls, curses and cries. The other crowd of men with
beautiful faces roared with applause and praises for him who had
assisted the poor Francesco in that great battle. The splendid and
bright character, more bright than the sun, put down on the head of
victorious Francesco a wonderful crown that is not possible to describe.
But then the crown was removed from Francesco’s head and the good
character said: ‘Another crown, more beautiful than this one, I have
preserved for you if you will fight with that character with which you
have now fought. He will always return to the assault; you will fight
without having any doubt of my help. Do not worry about his strength; I
will be nearby you, I always will help you, and you will succeed in
winning.’” Such visions were followed by real clashes with the
Devil. Padre Pio had several clashes against the “enemy hostile to
souls” during his life. In fact, one of Padre Pio’s first goals was to
tear souls from the clutches of the Devil.
One evening Padre Pio was in a room, on the ground floor
of the convent, turned guesthouse. He was alone and had just laid down
on the cot when, suddenly, a man appeared to him wound in a black
mantle. Padre Pio was amazed and arose to ask the man who he was and
what he wanted. The stranger answered that he was a soul in Purgatory.
“I am Pietro Di Mauro” he said “I died in a fire, onSeptember 18, 1908,
in this convent. In fact this convent, after the expropriation of the
ecclesiastical goods, had been turned into a hospice for elderly. I died
in the flames, while I was sleeping on my straw mattress, right in this
room. I have come from Purgatory: God has granted me to come here and
ask you to say Mass for me tomorrow morning. Thanks to one Mass I will
be able to enter into Paradise”. Father Pio told the man that he would
say Mass for him…, “but…“padre Pio said: “I, wanted to accompany him to
the door of the convent. I surely realized I had talked to a dead
person, in fact when we went out in the church square, the man that was
at my side, suddenly disappeared”. I have to admit that I re-entered in
the convent rather frightened. Padre Paolino of Casacalenda, Superior of
the convent, noticed my nervousness, after explaining to him what
happened, I asked “permission to celebrate Holy Mass for the deceased
soul,” A few days later, Father Paolino, wanting to verify the
information, went to the office of the registry of the commune of St.
Giovanni Rotondo. He required and got the permission to consult the
register of the deceased in the year 1908. The story of Father Pio
Father was true. In the register of deaths of the month of September,
Father Paolino found the name, last name and cause of death:
“OnSeptember 18, 1908in the fire of the hospice, Pietro Di Mauro died.”
“Mrs Cleonice Morcaldi of St. Giovanni Rotondo was one of
the Padre Pio’s spiritual daughters. Her mother had died. One month
after the death of her mother, Father Pio told Mrs Cleonice at the end
of the confession: “This morning your mother has gone to Heaven, I have
seen her while I was celebrating Holy Mass.”
Padre Pio told this story to padre Anastasio. “One
evening, while I was alone in choir to pray, I heard the rustle of a
suit and I saw a young monk that stirred next to the High altar. It
seemed that the young monk was dusting the candelabra and straightening
the flower vases. I thought he was Padre Leone rearranging the altar,
and, since it was supper time, I went to him and I told him: “Padre
Leone, go to dine, this is not the time to dust and to straighten the
altar”. But a voice, that was not Father Leone’s answered me”: “I am not
Padre Leone”, “and who are you? “, I asked him. “I am a brother of yours
that made the noviciate here. I was ordered to clean the altar during
the year of the noviciate. Unfortunately many times I didn’t reverence
Jesus while passing in front of the altar, thus causing the Holy
Sacrament that was preserved in the tabernacle to be disrespected. For
this serious carelessness, I am still in Purgatory. Now, God, with his
endless goodness, sent me here so that you may quicken the time I will
enjoy Paradise. Take care of me.” I believed to be generous to that
suffering soul, so I exclaimed: “you will be in Paradise tomorrow morning,
when I will celebrate Holy Mass”. That soul cried: “Cruel!” Then he wept
and disappeared. That complaint produced in me a wound to the heart that
I have felt and I will feel my whole life. In fact I would have been
able to immediately send that soul to Heaven but I condemned him to
remain another night in the flames of Purgatory.”
nt Padre Pio, pray
for us!
