SAINT PADRE PIO BACKGROUND
Pio of Pietrelcina (May 25 1887 – September 231968), widely known as Padre Pio. He was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, celebrated on September 23rd.
Pio joined the Capuchins when he was fifteen and spent most of his religious life in the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo. In September 1918, Pio began to display permanent wounds on his hands and feet, known as stigmata in reference to Christ’s wounds. This led to several investigations by the Holy See. In the next months, his reputation of sainthood grew rapidly in the region of San Giovanni Rotondo, attracting hundreds of believers to the monastery, coming each day to see him. Those close to him attest that he began to manifest several spiritual gifts, including the gifts of healing, bilocation, levitation, prophecy, miracles, and extraordinary abstinence from both sleep and nourishment.
He was beatified on May 2, 1999 and canonized on June 16, 2002, by Pope John Paul II. His relics are exposed in the sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, next to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo, now a major pilgrimage site.
SAINT PADRE PIO – BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allegri, Reno. Padre Pio Man Of Hope. Ann Arbor, MI: Charis Servant Publications. 2000.
Fide, Michael. Padre Pio and His Stigmata. Wheaton, IL: Holy Voices Media. 2024.
Mandato, Graziella DeNuncia. Encounters with a Spiritual Daughter from Pietrelcina. Sea Bright, NJ: Angelus Media Distribution. 2002.
Parente, Fr. Alessio. Send Me Your Guardian Angel. Italy, San Giovanni Rotondo: 2015.
Parente, Pascal P. Padre Pio: A City on a Mountain. Washington, NJ: Ave Maria Institute. 1968.
Pasquale, Gianluigi. Secrets of a Soul: Padre Pio’s Letters to His Spiritual Directors, Boston, MA: Pauline Books. 2003.
Regan, Frank M. Padre Pio and America. Rockford, IL: Tan Books. 2004.
Ruffin, C. Bernard. Padre Pio The Wonder Worker. New Bedford, MA: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. 1999.
Tangari, Madame Katharina. Stories of Padre Pio. Rockford, IL: Tan Books. 1996.