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thewahookid · 1 year ago

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If True, the Consecration of Russia May at Last Be Drawing Near.

A Modern Mystic and Stigmatist

Some of The Fatima Center’s followers are undoubtedly familiar with the prediction made by the Roman mystic and stigmatist, Antonio Ruffini, about when the Consecration of Russia will at last take place.

By way of background, Antonio Ruffini was born in Rome on December 8, 1907, the eldest of three sons in a devout Catholic family known for its attentiveness to the poor. His mother died when he was very young. Having only a primary-school education, he learned from an early age to pray with his heart rather than from prayer books. By his report, Our Lord and Our Lady appeared to him for the first time when he was 17 years old. He received the stigmata (open puncture-wounds on his hands and feet) on August 12, 1951, after a vision which took place at a remote fountain along the Via Appia between Rome and Terracina. (Pope Pius XII later authorized the construction of a chapel on the site.)

From that time on, Ruffini gave himself entirely to the physical and spiritual assistance of mankind, especially the poor and sick. Having entered the Third Order of St. Francis, he lived a life of eminent sanctity under a vow of obedience, displaying perfect humility in spite of his manifest spiritual gifts (including not only the stigmata, but also bilocation). A further endorsement of the authenticity of Ruffini’s charisms exists in that the noted miracle-worker Father Giuseppe Tomaselli published a biography of him.

Antonio Ruffini died at age 92, on a date no less remarkable than that of his birth. Born on the Feast of Our Ladyʼs miraculous Conception, he died on that of Our Lordʼs – March 25, 1999.

A Little Known Prophecy

Now as to his prophecy about the Consecration of Russia, Ruffini was asked in the early 1990s if Pope John Paul II would ever relent from his refusals and heed Our Lady’s request for that act. He answered: “No, it will not be John Paul II. Neither will it be his immediate successor, but the one after that. He is the one who will consecrate Russia.”[1]

In recent years, the meaning of Ruffini’s statement has become more uncertain with the questions surrounding Benedict’s apparent abdication of the papacy and Francis’ claim to it. Nevertheless, either the second legitimate successor to John Paul II is on the papal throne or he will be in the near future.[2]

Meanwhile, however, in the absence of Heaven’s decisive intervention (which can only be had through the proper Consecration of Russia), the Mystery of Iniquity is making great strides toward the complete destruction of Christian society. We must maintain hope and continue to apply ourselves to the reparatory devotions which Our Lady of Fatima called for, but we must not entertain illusions about how dire our situation now is. Great suffering, including martyrdom, may well be in our near future.

St. Jacinta’s Vision

In her Third Memoir, Sister Lucia recorded a vision which Jacinta had witnessed, which Fatima scholars have long understood to be a glimpse of the end-scenario described by Our Lady, in a world and Church tragically devastated by war, hunger, and persecution. In the end, as Our Lady promised, this dark time will yield to Her glorious Triumph. A light will break forth in the long-desired fulfillment of Our Lady’s request for the Consecration of Russia:

“At another time, we went to the cave called Lapa do Cabeço. As soon as we got there, we prostrated on the ground, saying the prayers the Angel had taught us. After some time, Jacinta stood up and called to me: ‘Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?’ [Some days later, Jacinta asked Lucia:] ‘Can I say that I saw the Holy Father and all those people?’ ‘No. Don’t you see that that’s part of the Secret? If you do, they’ll find out right away!’”[3]

Given Lucia’s response to her cousin, this vision clearly pertains to the Great Secret of Fatima. It certainly seems reasonable to presume that the event depicted here – presided over by the Holy Father, in a church, before a statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with many people in attendance – is the long-awaited proper Consecration of Russia. If so, it is likewise reasonable to presume the Consecration will take place in the midst of great famine, a frequent consequence of revolution and war.[4]

Let us continue to pray and sacrifice ourselves for this intention, that the Consecration of Russia be accomplished in time to mitigate the full force of imminent wars, famines, mass devastation, and loss of souls.

ENDNOTES:

[1] This prophecy is pious and worthy of belief but not obligatory. It does not have formal approval from the Magisterium. See on The Fatima Center’s YouTube channel, from the Mystery of Iniquity Conference in Idaho, September 28-30, 2012, Q&A Session #1 (minute 42:32 to 49:20).

[2] Editor’s Note: We ask the reader to keep in mind that prior to its fulfillment prophecy is difficult to interpret, even if it appears self-evident. On the natural order, issues of language and translation can make them more abstruse. We have Ruffini’s prophecy in English, but that was not his mother tongue.

[3] Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II: The Secret and the Church (Buffalo, Immaculate Heart Publications, 1989), p. 117.

[4] Fr. Gruner was told by a source close to Sister Lucia that Our Lady assured her the Third Secret would one day be revealed during the course of a major war. To read more about this, please see the article “Why the Third Secret of Fatima Must Be Released Before Russia Can Be Consecrated” in The Fatima Crusader, Issue 130 (Spring 2023)

#love #jesus loves you #jesus christ #blessed mother mary #mary #prophecy of fatima #fatima

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ettawritesnstudies · 2 years ago

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Hey! Happy Halloween/All Saints/All Souls day! Hope you're doing well!

17 for your All Hallows ask game!

Thank you and Happy Halloween to you too!

St. Faustina Kowalska had a truly amazing life is most famous for the Divine Mercy image:

She was the third of 10 kids in a poor family and wanted to enter the convent at 7 years old. In 1924 at age 19, she started seeing visions of Jesus, and left her home to travel to Warsaw, where she was turned away from several convents before joining the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. In 1933, she saw the vision of Jesus as seen in the above image, where he presented himself as the Divine King of Mercy, and asked her to become the apostle and secretary of God's mercy, to spread it to the world.

She kept a diary recording her visions throughout this time of her thoughts and prayers, and started searching for someone to paint the image, which was completed by Euguene Kazimierowski three years later. She also wrote down the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Novena of Divine Mercy. Along with the visions, she also had the gifts of bilocation, reading souls, prophecy, and the receiving hidden Stigmata, which are the wounds of Christ that appeared on her body. Her diary was published under the name "Divine Mercy in my Soul" and it's so profound that there are several petitions to make her an official Doctor of the church.

She offered up her suffering through several chronic illnesses, including tuberculosis which eventually killed her, for the sake of other's redemption. Miracles of healing have occurred at her tomb, with people reporting hearing a voice saying "ask for my help, and I will help you."

St. Faustina, pray for us! Jesus, I trust in you.

All saints day asks

#all saints day #all hallows ask game #all hallows eve #catholic #catholic history #christian

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essence-of-femininity · 3 years ago

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5 October - Saint Faustina Kowalska.

Is ”a gift from God for our times”, great mystic, mistress of spiritual life, prophet, who reminded the biblical truth about merciful love of God for every human being and calls to proclaim it to the world through the testimony of life, deed, word and prayer.

Apostle of Divine Mercy, Prophet of Our Times, Great Mystic, Mistress of Spiritual Life – these are the epithets usually appended to the name of Sister Faustyna Kowalska, St. Faustyna (Faustina), of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Sister Faustina is one of the Church’s most popular and widely known saints and the greatest mystics in the history of the Church.

Sister Faustina was born on 25 August 1905 in Głogowiec, Poland to Marianna and Stanisław Kowalski as the third of ten children. Two days later she was baptized with the name Helena in the parish church of Świnice Warckie. At the age of nine, she made her first Holy Communion. She attended elementary school for merely three years and then she went to work as a housekeeper in various well–to–do families in Aleksandrów and Łódź. From the age of seven, she had felt the calling for religious vocation, but her parents would not give her permission to enter the convent. However, impelled by the vision of the Suffering Christ, in July 1924 she left for Warsaw to find a place. For another year she worked as a housekeeper to save some money for a modest monastic trousseau. On 1 August 1925 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw on Żytnia St.

She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years, staying in many houses, the longest time (she spent) in Kraków, Płock and Vilnius; working as a cook, shop assistant in baker’s shop, gardener, and portress. She suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs and alimentary system and that is why for over 8 months stayed at the hospital in Kraków – Prądnik. Greater sufferings from those which were caused by tuberculosis, she offered as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners and as the Apostle of Divine Mercy. She experienced also many extraordinary graces such as: apparitions, ecstasies, the gift of bilocation, hidden stigmata, reading into human souls, the mystical betrothal and nuptials.

Sister Faustina’s principal task was to pass on to the Church and world the Message of Mercy, a recapitulation of the Biblical truth of God’s Merciful Love for every human being, and a calling to each of us to entrust our lives to Him and to actively love our neighbour. Jesus not only revealed the depth of His Mercy to St. Faustina, but also gave her new forms of worship: the picture inscribed Jesus, I trust in You, the Feast of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the Prayer in the Hour of His Death on the Cross, the Hour of Mercy. To each of these forms of worship, as well as to the preaching of the message of Mercy, He attached great promises, on condition that we care about the attitude of trust in God that is to fulfill His will and show mercy to our neighbours.

Sister Faustina died in Krakow on October 5, 1938, at the age of just thirty–three. Out of her charism and mystical experience grew the Apostolic Movement of the Divine Mercy which continues her mission, proclaiming the message of Mercy to the world through the testimony of life, deed, words and prayer. On April 18, 1993, the Holy Father John Paul II raised her to the glory of the altars and on April 30, 2000, numbered her among the saints of the Church. Her relics are in the Shrine of the Divine Mercy at Łagiewniki, Kraków.

The Holy Father John Paul II wrote that in the age of totalitarianisms Sister Faustina became the ambassador of the message that the only power strong enough to counteract their evil is the truth of God’s Mercy. He called her Diary a Gospel of Mercy written from a 20th-century perspective, which has helped people to survive the extremely painful experiences of these times. This message, Pope Benedict XVI has said, the message of Mercy as the Divine Power, as God putting a check on all the world’s evil, is indeed the chief message of our times.

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alwaysabeautifullife · 6 years ago

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Who's your favorite saint? Mine is probably Agatha of Sicily

My fav is St. Martin De Porres!! You’ll have to read on him because there are SO MANY reasons he’s awesome here’s a small quote “Martin was praised for his unconditional care of all people, regardless of race or wealth. He took care of everyone from the Spanish nobles to the African slaves. Martin didn't care if the person was diseased or dirty, he would welcome them into his own home. Martin's life reflected his great love for God and all of God's gifts. It is said he had many extraordinary abilities, including aerial flights, bilocation, instant cures, miraculous knowledge, spiritual knowledge and an excellent relationship with animals. Martin also founded an orphanage for abandoned children and slaves and is known for raising dowry for young girls in short amounts of time.”

He reminds me of St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Francis combined but some how cooler....(don’t tell them I said that)

#st martin de porres #martin de porres #saints #catholic

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anastpaul · 6 years ago

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Another Saint of the Day – 16 October – St Gerard Majella C.Ss.R. (1726-1755) Religious Lay Brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist, Apostle of Charity, known as a Thaumaturge, a Saint who works miracles not just occasionally but as a matter of course. Born on 23 April 1725 at Muro, Italy as Gerardo Maiella and died on 16 October 1755 at Caposele, Provincia di Avellino, Campania, Italy of tuberculosis, aged just 29. Patronages – children (and unborn children in particular); childbirth; mothers (and expectant mothers in particular); motherhood; falsely accused people; good confessions; lay brothers; tennis ball football, head boys and Muro Lucano, Italy.

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St Gerard was born in Muro Lucano, Basilicata, the youngest of five children. He wanted very much to receive Holy Communion at the age of seven and went to the Communion railing one day with the others but the priest, seeing his age, passed him up; and he went back to his place in tears. The following night, Saint Michael the Archangel brought him the Communion he so much desired. His tailor father died when Gerard was twelve, leaving the family in poverty. His mother then sent him to her brother so that he could teach Gerard to sew and follow in his father’s footsteps. However, the foreman was abusive. The boy kept silent but his uncle soon found out and the man who taught him resigned from the job. After four years of apprenticeship, he took a job as a servant to work for the local Bishop of Lacedonia. Upon the bishop’s death, Gerard returned to his trade, working first as a journeyman and then on his own account. He divided his earnings between his mother and the poor and in offerings for the souls in Purgatory.

He tried to join the Capuchin Order but his health prevented it. He had acquired a reputation of sanctity and finally, when he was 23 years old, he obtained the aid of some missionaries to second his request and was admitted as a Coadjutor of the newly founded Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as Redemptorists, in 1749. The order was founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787 Doctor of the Church) at Scala, near Naples. The essentially missionary order is dedicated to “preaching the word of God to the poor.” Its apostolate is principally in giving of missions and retreats.

During his life, he was very close to the peasants and other outsiders who lived in the Neapolitan countryside. In his work with the Redemptorist community, he was variously gardener, sacristan, tailor, porter, cook, carpenter and clerk of works on the new buildings at Caposele.

At 27, the good-looking Majella became the subject of a malicious rumour. An acquaintance, Neria, accused him of having had relations with a young woman. When confronted by St Alphonsus Liguori, the founder, on the accusations, the young lay brother remained silent. The girl later recanted and cleared his name.

Some of Majella’s reported miracles include restoring life to a boy who had fallen from a high cliff, blessing the scanty supply of wheat belonging to a poor family and making it last until the next harvest and several times multiplying the bread that he was distributing to the poor. One day, he walked across the water to lead a boatload of fishermen through stormy waves to the safety of the shore. He was reputed to have had the gift of bilocation and the ability to read souls.

Once he conducted a group of students on a nine-day pilgrimage to Mount Gargano, where the Archangel Michael had appeared. They had very little money for the tri, and when they arrived at the site, there was none left. Gerard went before the Tabernacle and told Our Lord that it was His responsibility to take care of the little group. He had been observed in the church by a religious, who invited the Saint and his companions to lodge in his residence. When the party was ready to start home again, Gerard prayed once more, and immediately someone appeared and gave him a roll of bills.

His last will was a small note on the door of his cell: “Here the will of God is done, as God wills and as long as God wills.” He died at 29 of tuberculosis.

One miracle in particular explains how Majella became known as the special patron of mothers. A few months before his death, he visited the Pirofalo family and accidentally dropped his handkerchief. One of the Pirofalo girls spotted the handkerchief moments after he had left the house and she ran after Gerard to return it. “Keep it,” he said to her. “You may need it some day.” Years later when the girl, now a married woman, was on the verge of losing her life in childbirth, she remembered the words of the saintly lay brother. She asked for the handkerchief to be brought to her. Almost immediately, the pain disappeared and she gave birth to a healthy child. That was no small feat in an era when only one out of three pregnancies resulted in a live birth and word of the miracle spread quickly.

Because of the miracles that God worked through Gerard’s prayers with mothers, the mothers of Italy took Gerard to their hearts and made him their patron. At the process of his beatification, one witness testified that he was known as “il santo dei felice parti,” “the saint of happy childbirths.” It is a well-known patronage and many miracles still occur. The St Gerard Majella Annual Novena takes place every year in St Josephs Church, Dundalk, Ireland. This annual nine-day novena is the biggest festival of faith in Ireland. St Joseph’s sponsors the St Gerard’s Family League, an International Association of Christians united in prayer for their own and other families, to preserve Christian values in their home and family life. Since his death in 1775, countless favours and miracles have been granted and worked through his intercession. As well as the patron of a good confession, he has been invoked as a constant source of help and inspiration to parents.

St Gerard was Beatified in Rome on 29 January 1893, by Pope Leo XIII. He was Canonised less than twelve years later on 11 December 1904, by St Pope Pius X.

#stgerardmajella #october16stgerardmajella #redemptorist #catholic #catholicism

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portraitsofsaints · 1 year ago

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Saint Padre Pio (C)

1887 - 1968

Feast Day: September 23

Patronage: Civil defense volunteers, Catholic adolescents

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, was a Capuchin Catholic priest from Italy. He was born Francesco Forgione, and given the name Pius when he joined the Capuchins, thus he is popularly known as Padre Pio. He became famous for bearing the stigmata. He also had the gift of reading souls and the ability to bilocate, among other supernatural phenomena. On 16 June 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

#St Pio #Padre Pio #catholic art #Catholic kids #Don't worry #be happy

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cruger2984 · 1 year ago

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THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT FAUSTINA KOWALSKA The Apostle of the Divine Mercy Feast Day: October 5

"Love endures everything. Love is stronger than death. Love fears nothing."

Saint Faustina is 'a gift from God for our times', great mystic, mistress of spiritual life, prophet, who reminded the biblical truth about merciful love of God for every human being and calls to proclaim it to the world through the testimony of life, deed, word and prayer.

Sister Faustina was born on August 25, 1905 in Głogowiec, Poland to Marianna and Stanisław Kowalski as the third of ten children. Two days later she was baptized with the name Helena in the parish church of Świnice Warckie. At the age of nine, she made her first Holy Communion. She attended elementary school for merely three years and then she went to work as a housekeeper in various well–to–do families in Aleksandrów and Łódź. From the age of seven, she had felt the calling for religious vocation, but her parents would not give her permission to enter the convent. However, impelled by the vision of the Suffering Christ, in July 1924 she left for Warsaw to find a place. For another year she worked as a housekeeper to save some money for a modest monastic trousseau. On August 1, 1925, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw on Żytnia St.

She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years, staying in many houses, the longest time (she spent) in Kraków, Płock and Vilnius; working as a cook, shop assistant in baker's shop, gardener, and portress. She suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs and alimentary system and that is why for over 8 months stayed at the hospital in Kraków – Prądnik. Greater sufferings from those which were caused by tuberculosis, she offered as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners and as the Apostle of Divine Mercy. She experienced also many extraordinary graces such as: apparitions, ecstasies, the gift of bilocation, hidden stigmata, reading into human souls, the mystical betrothal and nuptials.

Sister Faustina's principal task was to pass on to the Church and world the Message of Mercy, a recapitulation of the Biblical truth of God's Merciful Love for every human being, and a calling to each of us to entrust our lives to Him and to actively love our neighbour. Jesus not only revealed the depth of His Mercy to St. Faustina, but also gave her new forms of worship: the picture inscribed, 'Jesus, I trust in You, the Feast of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the Prayer in the Hour of His Death on the Cross, the Hour of Mercy.' To each of these forms of worship, as well as to the preaching of the message of Mercy, He attached great promises, on condition that we care about the attitude of trust in God that is to fulfill His will and show mercy to our neighbours.

This message, Pope Benedict XVI has said: 'The message of Mercy as the Divine Power, as God putting a check on all the world’s evil, is indeed the chief message of our times.'

Source: The Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (Lakeville, MA)

#random stuff #catholic #catholic saints #faustina kowalska #maria faustyna kowalska #divine mercy

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thepastisalreadywritten · 3 months ago

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SAINT OF THE DAY (October 16)

On October 16, we celebrate the feast of St. Gerard Majella.

Gerard was born the son of a tailor on 6 April 1726.

He grew up in a large, poor family about fifty miles south of Naples in Muro Lucano, Italy.

When Gerard was only 12, his father Dominic Majella entered eternal rest.

Upon the death of his father, his mother, beholden to poverty, sent Gerard away to live with his uncle.

Gerard then became an apprentice to a tailor. This tailor treated him well, however, the foreman treated him poorly.

After serving as a sewing apprentice for a couple years, he instead became a servant in the household of the bishop of Lacedonia, who was a cantankerous master.

Upon the death of the bishop in 1745, he returned home. At the age of 21, he became a journeyman.

He split his earnings for his mother and the poor, then made offerings for the holy souls in purgatory. Afterwards, he opened his own tailor shop.

At a young age, Gerard tried to join the local Capuchins, but he was turned down twice due to his youth and poor health.

He also tried to become a hermit but that too was not God's will for him.

He then entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1749 and professed of perpetual vows under the Redemptorist's founder, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, in 1751.

He served as tailor and infirmarian. He became known for his extraordinary supernatural gifts of bilocation, prophecy, ecstasies, visions, and infused knowledge.

Though not ordained to the holy order of priest, his spiritual direction and advice were sought by many among the clergy and communities of nuns, to which he also gave conferences.

He was most successful in converting sinners, and was widely known for his sanctity and charity.

In 1754, he was calumniated and accused of lechery by a woman named Neria Caggiano.

Caggiano later admitted her charge was a lie. Even before she admitted to her falsehood, Gerard did not deny her charges.

As these charges were still up in the air, his superiors became suspicious, so they put him under surveillance and excluded him from communion for months until the girl admitted that she had lied.

When asked by Saint Alphonsus why he had kept silent in such circumstances, Gerard replied that he thought such patience was required in the face of unjust accusations.

As Gerard bore this calumny with such humility and patience, Saint Alphonsus said, "Brother Gerard is a saint."

He was sent to Naples soon after, but when the house was inundated by visitors wanting to see him, he was sent to Caposele a few months later.

He served as the porter there and ministered to the poor of the town.

He spent the last few months of his life raising funds for new buildings at Caposele.

Just prior to his death, he visited his friends, the Pirofalo family.

One of the daughters ran and called after him as he left the home, as he dropped his handkerchief.

Speaking through the gift of prophecy, he replied, "Keep it. It will be useful to you someday."

Years down the road, when this young woman was in danger of childbirth, she recalled these words of Gerard and requested the handkerchief.

The handkerchief was applied to her, thus a miracle: her pain immediately ceased and she gave birth to a healthy child.

Gerard died of tuberculosis on 16 October 1755 at the age of 29 in Caposele.

He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 29 January 1893. He was canonized by Pope Saint Pius X on 11 December 1904.

He is the patron saint of mothers, motherhood, expectant mothers, childbirth, children, pregnant women, unborn children, the pro-life movement, the falsely accused, good confessions, and lay brothers.

#Saint of the Day #St. Gerard Majella

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years ago

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A Padre Pio Inspirational Story

Father James DeVita, SDB, was born and raised in San Giovanni Rotondo, the town where Padre Pio lived for almost 50 years. Padre Pio’s name was a household word in the DeVita family. Fr. DeVita’s mother, Agnes, was a member of the 3rd Order of St. Francis. Padre Pio often encouraged people to join the 3rd Order of St. Francis, calling it a “school of holiness.” As a young woman, Agnes used to bake pizza and take it to the monastery for the Capuchins to enjoy for dinner.

When Fr. DeVita was a teenager, he used to walk with his boyhood friends to the monastery to attend Padre Pio’s Mass. On one occasion, he was the altar server for Padre Pio’s Mass. It lasted almost two hours with long periods of silent prayer throughout. Padre Pio often lost track of time during the Mass. But as a restless teenager, James DeVita did not lose track of time and to him Padre Pio’s Mass was just too long for comfort.

Fr. DeVita also made his confession to Padre Pio on a number of occasions. At that time, the men’s confessions were held in the sacristy of the church. Confessions were face to face and neither a screen nor a curtain was provided for privacy. The line formed about four feet away from where the penitent was making his confession. The person kneeling before Padre Pio seemed so exposed. Although nobody was trying to listen, one could practically hear the words being spoken. Waiting in line to make one’s confession to Padre Pio could be a nerve-wracking experience. One could easily observe the expression on Padre Pio’s face while hearing confessions. When people confessed that they had missed Sunday Mass, Padre Pio became visibly upset. He was extremely strict in this regard. Unless one was sick, missing Mass on Sunday was a grave omission. As a teenager, James DeVita would miss Mass from time to time due to his own negligence. When this occurred, he did not have the courage to make his confession to Padre Pio. He would choose another priest.

According to the general opinion, making one’s confession to Padre Pio was of inestimable help in the spiritual life. It was true. God gave Padre Pio extraordinary gifts and graces for his priestly work as a confessor. In his lifetime, he reconciled thousands of people back to their faith. He once said that if he had the choice between losing his eyesight or his sense of hearing, he would prefer to lose his eyesight. “Why is that?” someone asked. “It is because with my hearing intact I would still be able to hear confessions,” he answered. And hear confessions he did, often more than twelve hours a day. On the last day of his life, although weak and very ill, he heard a number of confessions. Pope Pius XII called him, “The confessor of Europe.”

Padre Pio saw his priestly role as confessor as a great responsibility and he always prayed for God’s help.”Without the grace of God, we can do nothing,” he said. People often came to Padre Pio asking him for advice as to whether certain actions in their daily living experiences were right or wrong. He usually saw questions of right verses wrong in simple, black and white terms. He was able to counsel people in a way that left no doubt in the person’s mind regarding the right course to take. He was never tempted to tell people what they wanted to hear. His desire was to tell people the truth.

Padre Pio made no distinction between venial sins and mortal sins. He spoke simply of sin. For Padre Pio, sin was something serious, something terrible. There was to be no compromise with sin. It had to be avoided at all costs. “We will never know what it means to rebel against God,” he once said.

Padre Pio said that he had only one fear, that of offending God. He once said, “I would rather undergo death an infinite number of times, rather than openly offend the Lord.” On one occasion a person told Padre Pio that he had lied. He explained that it was a very small lie, a white lie. It was of no consequence. “But Jesus died to defend the truth,” Padre Pio answered. “A small lie is a sin that offends God,” he said. And he went further. He did not condone exaggeration either, even to the smallest degree.

For those who were sincerely seeking to move forward on the spiritual path, confession to Padre Pio was a great blessing. But for the insincere and those who came simply out of curiosity to Padre Pio’s confessional, his spiritual direction was described as “demanding, disturbing, and uncomfortable.”

Time and space and distance did not seem to be a barrier in Padre Pio’s ministry to souls. On one occasion, one of the Capuchins was just about to knock on the door of Padre Pio’s cell when he heard Padre Pio talking to someone inside. He decided not to disturb them but he waited at the door anyway. Soon Padre Pio opened the door but there was no one else inside his cell. “I heard you talking to someone but there is no one there,” the Capuchin said. “Oh, I was hearing someone’s confession,” Padre Pio replied. Through the extraordinary gift of bilocation, Padre Pio was able to be present to people, often great distances away, who were in need of his help.

Padre Pio went to confession frequently and he encouraged others to do the same. When some protested that they did not need to go to confession since they had nothing of consequence to confess, Padre Pio used a simple analogy. “Even if a room is very clean and the door is closed so that no one can enter, the dust will nevertheless collect there and it will require dusting,” he said. Once Padre Pio made his confession to Padre Eusebio Notte and afterward he began to cry. Padre Eusebio was perplexed. He told Padre Pio that the sins that he confessed were indeed very small and insignificant. There was certainly no reason to cry. But Padre Pio did not see it that way. He had a horror of offending God, even in small matters. He was always truly sorry for his sins.

When Fr. DeVita was a teenager, he used to take part as an actor in the religious plays that were performed in San Giovanni Rotondo. The plays included the life of St. Cecilia, St. Agnes, St. Peter and more. Padre Pio and the other Capuchins frequently attended the performances and enjoyed them immensely. Rehearsals were held at Mary Pyle’s home. Fr. DeVita had a great admiration for Mary Pyle. She was often known simply as, “Padre Pio’s American secretary.” “Mary was a person of great holiness,” said Fr. DeVita. “Her love for God and her great willingness to serve Padre Pio’s work was truly amazing.”

Mary Pyle was an American heiress who had been born into a very socially prominent and wealthy Protestant family and raised in New York’s high society. She had become accustomed to every luxury from her earliest years and had traveled extensively throughout the world. When Mary was 35 years old, she accepted an invitation from a girlfriend to visit Padre Pio’s monastery and attend his Mass. During the visit, she was able to speak to Padre Pio briefly. She found her life transformed by the encounter and soon decided to move to San Giovanni Rotondo permanently. She built a house right below the monastery. It was one of the first houses in the area.

Mary joined the 3rd Order of St. Francis and began to lead a simple and austere life, totally consecrated to God. Her workload continually increased through the years but she was always ready and willing to do more to assist Padre Pio. Mary had the heart of a mother, and the charity of a saint. She lived in San Giovanni Rotondo for 45 years until her death in 1968. Her cause for canonization is presently being considered by the Church.

The Capuchins in San Giovanni Rotondo set aside time every day for a period of recreation. For Padre Pio, this time was usually spent in the garden of the monastery, enjoying fellowship with his brothers in religion. As the time drew closer to his ordination day, James DeVita was allowed to visit Padre Pio in the monastery garden anytime he wished. He recalls that Padre Pio delighted in telling funny stories and making everyone laugh. “Padre Pio had a wonderful sense of humor,” Fr. DeVita said. “He was a simple man. He was not an intellectual. He was a man of prayer, a man who loved God above all things.”

Padre Pio wore brown half gloves to cover the wounds of the stigmata. He would always remove the gloves before the celebration of Mass. On several occasions, Fr. DeVita was able to kiss the stigmata on Padre Pio’s hand when his gloves were removed. It was a grace-filled experience and yet it was not something that was easy to do. Fr. DeVita would close his eyes tightly and with trepidation, kiss the wound on Padre Pio’s hand.

Because of the inadequate health care in San Giovanni Rotondo in the early years, many of the people in the area died an untimely death. Padre Pio felt compelled to remedy this situation. He worked tirelessly to make the Home for the Relief of Suffering a reality. Fr. DeVita saw first hand, the great blessings of Padre Pio’s hospital. Not only did it save the lives of many of the sick and infirm, it was also of great benefit to the poor. San Giovanni Rotondo was an economically depressed region and many of its citizens struggled to find work. The Home for the Relief of Suffering provided much needed jobs for many of the families in the town. Fr. DeVita’s own sister Raffaella felt very fortunate to be employed at the hospital.

Fr. DeVita became a patient at the Home for the Relief of Suffering shortly after it opened its doors. He contracted typhoid fever and remained in a coma for four days. A rumor went around San Giovanni Rotondo that James had passed away, but Padre Pio set the record straight. He said, “Do not worry. James has not passed away. He is going to recover.”

In 1957, James DeVita was ordained into the Salesian Order, founded by St. John Bosco. Mary Pyle and the ladies choir that she directed, and that sang for all of Padre Pio’s Masses, came to the parish of San Onofrio in San Giovanni Rotondo to provide the music for James’ ordination Mass. When Fr. DeVita celebrated his first Mass, he had the great joy to wear one of Padre Pio’s priestly stoles.

Before he moved to the United States, Fr. DeVita went to Padre Pio to say goodbye. “But there is so much work for priests to do here in Italy,” Padre Pio said to him. “Why do you have to move so far away?” Fr. DeVita explained that he wanted to be closer to his family who had emigrated to Canada.

June 29, 2007 marked Fr. James DeVita’s golden jubilee anniversary of fifty years in the priesthood. Most of his priestly ministry has been spent serving parishes in New York and New Jersey. Today he is retired and living in Florida where he also assists at a parish. Looking back on his life, Fr. DeVita is very grateful to have grown up in San Giovanni Rotondo and to have had a saint as his role model. Fr. DeVita said that the beautiful words spoken by Pope Paul VI on the life and spirituality of Padre Pio, echo his own sentiments in a profound way. In speaking of Padre Pio, Pope Paul VI said, “What fame he had. How many followers from around the world. Why? Was it because he was a philosopher, a scholar, or because he had means at his disposal? No, it was because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from morning until night and was a marked representative of the stigmata of Our Lord. He was truly a man of prayer and suffering.” ______________________________

Pasquale D’Andrea grew up in Pietrelcina, Italy. His father, Cosimo owned a piece of land in Pietrelcina and earned his living by growing tobacco. One day Padre Pio approached Cosimo and said to him, “You do not go to Mass on Sunday, but you go to the town square.” Cosimo was shocked that Padre Pio knew that he did not attend Sunday Mass. He had never discussed it with anyone. He explained to Padre Pio that he had to spend his Sundays working in the fields to earn his living and support his family. But Cosimo was well-aware that his explanation was unsatisfactory to Padre Pio. From that day forward, he never again missed attending Sunday Mass.

Pasquale’s wife, Giovannina, also had the greatest respect for Padre Pio. On one occasion she had an important decision to make regarding a personal matter. She felt that she needed to seek advice from Padre Pio at once. She went to the church to speak to him, but realized that it would be impossible. On that particular day there was a continuous crowd of people around him. However, Padre Pio answered the questions in her heart in a unique way. At three different times that morning, he fixed his eyes on Giovannina. With a penetrating gaze and a serious expression on his face, he slowly moved his head from side to side, indicating “no.” Without saying a word, Padre Pio had given Giovannina the answer she needed. She felt completely satisfied.

Before leaving Italy in 1955 to make his home in New York, Pasquale went to San Giovanni Rotondo to say good bye to Padre Pio and ask for his blessing. Padre Pio was always very friendly and approachable. He simply said to Pasquale, “There will be three days of storms on your journey, and after that smooth sailing!” Once again, his words proved true. ______________________________

Padre Pio has been a part of Ellie Hunt’s family ever since she can remember. Ellie’s father, James Rummo as well as her maternal and paternal grandparents lived in Pietrelcina, Padre Pio’s hometown. It was a small and close-knit farming town where everybody knew everybody else. Francesco Forgione (Padre Pio) would eventually become Pietrelcina’s most famous citizen, although no one ever imagined it at the time.

Ellie’s maternal grandmother, Anna Maria Scocco was the same age as Padre Pio and knew him as a child. Anna Maria’s family owned a farm in the countryside of Pietrelcina, an area called Piana Romana. Padre Pio’s family, the Forgione’s, also had a small landholding in Piana Romana as well as a vineyard. As a youngster, Padre Pio tended the family’s sheep.

Anna Maria recalled that Padre Pio was very pious as a young boy and always carried a devotional book with him. He was a quiet child and quite shy. Anna Maria once asked him why he was always reading books. Instead of answering, he asked Anna Maria why she didn’t attend school. She told him that it was because her father wanted her to stay home and learn how to cook, clean and sew. At the time, education was not mandatory in southern Italy.

Padre Pio’s health, which was never good, began to deteriorate during his time in the Capuchin seminary. Doctors were never able to successfully diagnose and treat the mysterious illnesses that continually wracked his body. The distressing symptoms of his ailments would come and go with no apparent reason. Padre Pio was forced to interrupt his studies for the priesthood and move back to the family home. For the better part of 7 years, from 1909 until 1916, he remained in Pietrelcina. He spent much of his time in prayer and solitude and did his best to regain his health. It was one of the few times of relative quiet and peace in his life. During this period, his prayer life grew in intensity. It is thought that the 7 years he spent in his hometown were almost like an extended retreat, arranged by Divine Providence, to prepare him spiritually for the great mission that was just up ahead.

It was during the time of his long convalescence in Pietrelcina that Ellie’s father James came in contact with Padre Pio. James’ grandmother, Saveria, would send him with fresh eggs to deliver to Padre Pio. The hope was that the eggs would build up his strength. Everyone in the community knew of his illness and hoped for his recovery. Even in his youth, the townspeople held him in the highest esteem.

It was difficult to make a living in Pietrelcina and for this reason, Ellie’s father, grandparents, and other relatives eventually moved to New York. Once in New York, the men joined the “Pietrelcina Society,” which sent regular financial help to those who had stayed behind.

Alfred, one of Ellie’s cousins, made yearly visits back to Pietrelcina all through the 1950’s. He noticed that St. Anne’s parish, where Padre Pio had celebrated Mass for a number of years, was in a great state of disrepair. “Someday people from all over the world will be coming to our town,” he said to his relatives in Pietrelcina. “They will want to see Padre Pio’s birthplace and the parish of his youth. The church must be kept clean at all times. It must be swept and dusted daily. It cannot be neglected like this!” he said emphatically.

In the 1950’s when Alfred spoke these words, Padre Pio was almost completely unknown throughout the world. The tiny, impoverished town of Pietrelcina was even more unknown. It could barely be found on a map. Many of its residents had long since moved away. But Alfred was convinced that the saintly priest from Pietrelcina would one day become world-famous and that people would be interested in seeing his hometown. His words proved to be prophetic. Gradually people from all parts of the world began to learn about Padre Pio. Today, the pilgrims who annually visit the town of Padre Pio’s birth and pray in the rustic church of St. Anne’s, number in the thousands. The increase in visitors has been so dramatic that the town is hard-pressed to accommodate the crowds.

All through Ellie’s growing up years, she heard the family reminisce about Padre Pio but she was never very interested in these stories from the “old country.” All that changed however due to an incident that happened in 1960, when Ellie was 31 years old. That was the year that her grandfather, Jack Crafa became gravely ill. Ellie and her parents lived close to his home in Flushing, New York and during his illness, the family stayed by his side. When Jack fell into a coma, everyone knew his end was near. One day while Ellie and her parents were at her grandfather’s bedside, a stranger knocked at the door. It was a Capuchin monk dressed in a dark brown habit. Ellie was surprised to see that he was wearing sandals without any socks for it was a particularly cold day and there was snow on the ground outside. He said he had come to pray for her grandfather.

Ellie was perplexed. There were not any Capuchin monks in residence at their parish in Flushing or in any other parish in the area for that matter. Ellie was also annoyed. It should have been the parish priest to come to pray for her grandfather and not a complete stranger. But she was impressed by the kindness and compassion of the young religious. He went in the bedroom and blessed Jack Crafa. He told the family to pray the Rosary while sitting at Jack’s side and to pray the Hail Mary close to his ear. He had the sense that Jack was still able to hear. After the monk said that, Ellie was surprised to find that when she took her grandfather’s hand in hers, she felt a very slight response from him, a very slight squeeze from his hand.

The young monk gave Ellie’s grandfather the Last Rites, he blessed the family and then bid them goodbye. As he walked out the front door, Ellie’s father, James, observed that there was no car waiting for him outside. James watched him as he walked up the street until he disappeared in the darkness. It was that very night that Jack Crafa passed away. He had been in a coma for nine days.

After the monk left, James became pale and appeared quite shaken. Ellie’s mother Lucy, asked him for the reason.”Don’t you know who that was?”James replied. “It was Padre Pio. He came in bilocation to give the Last Rites to your father. He looked exactly like I remember him when I used to deliver eggs to him in Pietrelcina.”

Ellie believed her father’s explanation and she was aware of Padre Pio’s gift of bilocation. Her grandfather, Jack Crafa had been one of Padre Pio’s spiritual sons from Pietrelcina. But Ellie was confused about one thing. The black and white photos she had seen of Padre Pio showed him as having very dark hair, almost black. This monk had sandy colored hair. Later when Ellie read a biography of Padre Pio, the author described Padre Pio’s hair as a dark sandy color. It confirmed her own observation.

Padre Pio had always said that the people of Pietrelcina held a very special place in his heart. Ellie’s mother had a cousin named Rose from Pietrelcina. She was very devoted to Padre Pio. Rose heard that Padre Pio enjoyed American coffee. She used to regularly send packages to her aunt who lived in San Giovanni Rotondo. The packages always included coffee with instructions to take it to the monastery and give it to Padre Pio.

Rose was finally able to make a trip to San Giovanni Rotondo. One afternoon, she was standing among a large crowd of people who were gathered outside the monastery waving to Padre Pio. He was standing at a window, waving a handkerchief in greeting to the crowd below. As he looked at the large gathering of people, he pointed out Rose to one of the Capuchins. The next thing she knew, one of the Capuchins approached her and told her that Padre Pio wanted to speak to her. Rose was escorted inside the monastery and asked to wait. After awhile the Capuchin returned. He apologized to Rose. He said that Padre Pio wanted to come down and personally thank her for the coffee she had been sending to him but he was unable to do so. In that large crowd of people he picked out one of his fellow citizens of Pietrelcina to give a special word of thanks to. He had never seen Rose before nor had she ever seen him. He loved Pietrelcina and he loved his spiritual children from Pietrelcina. Padre Pio once said, “In my lifetime I have made San Giovanni Rotondo known but after my death I will make Pietrelcina known.”

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