St. Pius of Pietrelcina

September 23 is the Feast of St. Pius of  Pietrelcina - more popularly known as "Padre Pio".

Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione, on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy. His parents were peasant farmers, asn he had an older brother and three younger sisters. At the age of 15, Francesco entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars at Morcone. He took the name of "Pio" in honor of Pope Pius I, whose relic he often saw at his local chapel. Pio was ordained a priest in 1910, and was known for his ministry of Reconciliation. In September of 1916, while hearing confessions, he felt pains in his hands. Doctors who later examined the stigmata were amazed at their perfectly round shape.

By 1919, word began to spread about Padre Pio's stigmata and people came from far away to examine him. Padre Pio became popular with the people he encountered and soon began to attribute supernatural occurrences to him. For example, he was said to levitate, and to be capable of performing miracles.


His popularity became a source of concern or the Church and the Vatican began to restrict his activities to minimize public interaction. Padre Pio himself was uncomfortable with his newfound popularity and the attention he received because of his stigmata. A Church investigation into his stigmata concluded that his condition was not faked. By the mid 1930's the Vatican's attitude changes and Pope Pius XI encouraged people to visit Padre Pio. In 1947, Fr. Karol Wojtyla visited Padre Pio who prophetically told him he would rise to the highest post in the Church." Fr. Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in 1978.

Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968, and he was Canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 16, 2002. 

While popular culture - and the Hollywood myth - portray a saint who has the wounds of Christ as experinceing pain, often saints refer to the Stigmata as being a source of ecstacy. In sharing in the wounds of Christ - our own wounds are healed.