Padre Pio

Padre Pio in 1966

Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap. (May 25, 1887 - September 23, 1968), was a friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic, now venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church. Born Francesco Forgione, he was given the name of Pius when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

Quotes

• Every holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know. It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
  • Gerardo Di Flumeri, The Mystery of the Cross in Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, National Centre for Padre Pio, Barto, PA. p. 16.

• Bless the hand that strikes you, for it is always the hand of a father.

• Quoted in Enrico Malatesta, ‘'La vera storia di Padre Pio’' (The True Story of Padre Pio), Piemme, 1999, p. 309.

• (About Giacomo Gaglione) With Jesus on the Cross, with Jesus in holy Paradise.

• Quoted in ‘’I Figli Spirituali - Giacomo Gaglione‘’, ‘'Conventosantuariopadrepio.it’'.

• Where there is more sacrifice, there is more generosity.

• Quoted in Alessandro Pronzato, ‘'Padre Pio da Pietrelcina. Mistero gaudioso’', Gribaudi, Milan, 1998, p. 238. ISBN 9788871524870.

• Circumstances make the hero, but everyday courage makes the righteous man.

• Quoted in Enzo Biagi, ‘'Diciamoci tutto’', Mondadori, 1984, p. 245.

• Better a mouse between two cats than a sick man between two doctors.

• Phrase heard from Prof. Bruno Pavone. Quoted in Father Andrea D'Ascanio, ‘’Il sorriso di Padre Pio‘’, ‘'Preghiereagesuemaria.it’'.

• Is he a saint? Giacomino is a great saint!

• Quoted in “Giacomo Gaglione - The story”, “Sorelledelleucaristia.it”.

• The most beautiful creed is the one that bursts from your lips in the darkness, in sacrifice, in pain, in the supreme effort of an infallible will for good; it is the one that, like a bolt of lightning, pierces the darkness of your soul; it is the one that, in the flash of the storm, lifts you up and leads you to God.

• quoted in Consigli ed esortazioni (Advice and Exhortations), Faith 57.

• Blasphemy brings God's curse upon your home and is the surest way to go to hell.

• from ‘'Epistolario’'.

• God's omnipotence is not limited to planet Earth alone. On other planets there are creatures and other beings who have not sinned as we have and who pray to God.

• Quoted in ‘’Padre Pio e il contatto di terzo tipo (Padre Pio and the Third Kind of Contact), September 3, 2013.

• (At the beginning of Giacomo Gaglione‘s book, ’'Allo specchio della mia anima'‘ (In the Mirror of My Soul)) Never let the Passion of Christ leave your mind if you want to share in his triumphs.

• quoted in ’'Biography‘’, ‘'giacomogaglione.it’'.

• Before coming here to see me... go to Monte Sant'Angelo and invoke the help and protection of the Archangel Michael.

• Quoted in Nina Serago, ‘’inc=detail&bread=News&t=%93San%20Michele%20e%20Padre%20Pio%20ci%20ricordano%20il%20giusto%20sentiero%20da%20percorre%85%94 TeleradioPadrePio - St. Michael and Padre Pio remind us of the right path to follow.. .‘’, ‘'Teleradio Padre Pio.it’', September 26, 2007.

• (About the wife of the champion, when they went to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1953; a week later, as widely predicted by journalists at the time, Coppi left his wife to go and live with Giulia Occhini) Mrs. Coppi, be careful not to get hit on.

• Quoted in R. Allegri, ‘'I miracoli di Padre Pio’' (The Miracles of Padre Pio), p. 225.

Epistolario

Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, Pensieri esperienze suggerimenti. Florilegio dall'epistolario curato da Melchiorre da Pobladura, Father Gerardo Di Flumeri (editor), Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, San Giovanni Rotondo, 1995 (in Italian).

• I will never tire of praying to Jesus. It is true that my prayers are more deserving of punishment than reward, because I have disgusted Jesus too much with my countless sins; but in the end, he will take pity on me. (209, 1995)
• I no longer understand anything. I do not know if my prayers are such, or if they are strong resentments that my heart directs toward its God in the fullness of its pain. (1029, 1995)
• Even at the altar, my father, God alone knows how much violence I must do to myself to avoid further sins. (278, 1995)
• I want to suffer. This is my desire. (1051, 1995)
• Patience!... I suffer, it is true, but I enjoy it very much. (206, 1995)
• Jesus tells me that in love it is he who delights me; in pain, however, it is I who delight him. (335, 1995)
• I seek God, but where can I find him? (1028, 1995)
• But what torments me most are those strong and sharp pains in my chest. At times they cause me such great discomfort that it seems as if they want to break my back and chest. (107, 1995)
• Oh, how sweet was the conversation I had with heaven this morning! It was such that, even if I wanted to try to tell you everything, I could not; there were things that cannot be translated into human language without losing their profound and heavenly meaning. The Heart of Jesus and mine, if I may say so, merged. There were no longer two hearts beating, but only one. My heart had disappeared, like a drop of water lost in the sea. Jesus was paradise, the king. The joy within me was so intense and profound that I could no longer contain myself; the most delightful tears flooded my face. (273, 1995)
• I am not worthy to tell you what happened during this period of superlative martyrdom. I was confessing our boys on the evening of the fifth, when all of a sudden he was filled with extreme terror at the sight of a heavenly figure who appeared before my mind's eye. He was holding a kind of tool, similar to a very long iron blade with a sharp point, from which fire seemed to be coming out. Seeing all this and watching this figure violently hurl the aforementioned tool into my soul was all one and the same thing. I barely uttered a moan; I felt like I was dying. I told the boy to leave, because I felt ill and no longer had the strength to continue. (1065, 1995)
• Poor my dear Mum, how much you love me! (276, 1995)
• Here, finally, is the return of the month of beautiful Mommy. (357, 1995)
• The sight of Jesus in distress caused me great pain, so I wanted to ask him why he was suffering so much. I received no answer. However, his gaze returned to those priests. But shortly afterwards, almost horrified and as if tired of looking, he withdrew his gaze and when he raised it towards me, to my great horror, I saw two tears running down his cheeks. He moved away from that crowd of priests, with a great expression of disgust on his face, shouting: Butchers! (350, 1995)
• Vainglory is an enemy of souls who have consecrated themselves to the Lord and given themselves to the spiritual life. (396, 1995)
• My God! What martyrdom is the temptation of vainglory. (314, 1995)
• This blessed war will be a salutary purge for our Italy, for the Church of God; it will reawaken in the Italian heart the faith that lay there hidden, as if asleep and suffocated by evil desires; it will cause beautiful flowers to bloom in the Church of God, from soil that was almost parched and dry. But, my God, before this happens, what a harsh trial awaits us. We must go through an entire night covered in the thickest darkness, the likes of which our homeland has never seen before. (583, 1995)
• Only one thing remains my friend: death. (767, 1995)

• Keep the crucified Jesus in your heart and all the crosses of the world will seem like roses to you. Those who have felt the pricks of the crown of thorns of the Savior, who is our head, do not feel the other wounds in any way. (III, 827)