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St. Padre Pio

The Italian priest Father Pio (in the world - Francesco Forgione) was canonized for several years. His life was filled with miracles that surprise even experts in the study of the lives of the saints. In the 1950s, the future opened up to the priest. So, he predicted the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in New York and a number of subsequent terrorist attacks in the world.

Francesco was born on May 25, 1887 in the village of Petrelcina in the province of Benevento, which was located in the Campania region in southern Italy. According to the account, he was the fifth child in the farmer's family, however, of the eight children of Grazio and Maria Giuseppa Forgione, three died in infancy.

A five-year-old boy fell ill with tuberculosis. He recovered, while many died from this disease. According to Francesco's confessor, Father Agostino, after that, little Forgione began to have religious visions. He talked with his Guardian Angel, the Madonna and Jesus himself... The child did not see anything strange in this, it seemed to him that it should be so...

At the age of ten, Francesco firmly decided to become a monk. After six years of study and a series of trials, he took monastic vows. It happened on January 27, 1907. And on August 10, 1910, Brother Pio was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Benevento. Due to poor health, Forgione almost did not leave the walls of the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo until the end of his life.

Perhaps the most significant event in the life of Father Pio occurred in September 1918. This is how he describes his experience in a letter to one of his spiritual fathers: “It was a morning on the twentieth of September. I was praying in the choirs after the Holy Mass, when suddenly an unexpected state, like a sweet dream, seized me. All my insides, feelings, as well as the forces of the soul, were embraced by an indescribable peace.

Around me and within me there was a deep silence; then everything happened in an instant. I saw before me a mysterious figure, similar to which I saw on August 5th. The difference was that blood was dripping from her arms and legs. The vision frightened me, it is impossible to describe what I felt at that moment. I felt like I was dying. And I would have died if God had not intervened and supported my beating heart, which was about to burst out of my chest. The vision disappeared and I realized that my hands, feet and side were pierced and bleeding ... "

The monk prayed for a long time for deliverance from his wounds. Over time, the stigmata became invisible, but every Friday, as well as during Holy Week, they invariably bled. The stigmata disappeared only shortly before the death of Padre Pio.

More than once Padre Pio had to perform miraculous healings. One of the most incredible cases happened to a little girl named Vera-Maria Calandra. Due to congenital malformations of the kidneys and ureters, her bladder was removed. Doctors did not guarantee that after this operation she would live long. The mother of Vera-Maria with her two daughters went to San Giovanni Rotondo, where the padre during the service laid his hands with stigmata on the heads of the girls. Four days later Signora Calandra showed Vera Maria to the doctors. It turned out that a new bladder began to grow in place of the removed bladder! Prior to this, medicine did not know such cases.

In the 1950s, the future opened up to the priest. He saw pictures of future events and realized that all the troubles of mankind are either God's punishment or a test ... The padre carefully wrote down his experiences - however, in an allegorical form, reminiscent of Holy Scripture.

At the beginning of the 21st century, researchers were surprised to find that the outbreaks of terrorism around the world completely coincided with the predictions of Padre Pio. So, they mentioned the New York tragedy of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent series of terrorist attacks. The countries affected by them will begin to unite against terrorism, wrote Francesco Forgione. A special role is assigned to the “banking power” of Switzerland: economic and political unrest will begin there.

On September 22, 1968, Father Pio celebrated his last Mass, and on the night of September 23, he passed away. Only after more than 20 years, on May 2, 1999, the church finally proclaimed him blessed, although many ordinary Italians have long considered him a saint.

In order to elevate a person to the rank of a saint, according to Catholic canons, it is necessary to wait for another miracle: this is a sign that the Lord agrees with such a decision. And a miracle happened! In January 2000, an eight-year-old Italian boy was completely cured of a severe form of meningitis. The day before, on the evening of January 20, he had a vision of a monk who, according to the description, was recognized as Padre Pio. The canonization of Francesco Forgione took place on June 16, 2002.

May 2, 1999 on St. Peter in Rome was the beatification ceremony for Padre Pio (or Father Pius). He was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who was personally acquainted with him - they met in May 1947 in the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo. Many years later, in 1974, when he came to the same monastery to pray at the sarcophagus of Padre Pio, the future Pope recalled this: “This old church remains for me a meeting place with the servant of God, Father Pio. Almost 27 years have passed, and I still see him, feel his presence, hear his words when he celebrates the Holy Mass, and I see this confessional, where he entered to confess the penitents; sacristy, the altar in front of which we now stand and where, at the end of Mass, he communed the faithful.

Once, during his tenure as Bishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla wrote a letter to Padre Pio asking him to pray for a woman with cancer and a mother of four small children. The prayer of the future blessed helped, and the woman miraculously recovered. In 1972, Karol Wojtyła signed the petition of the Polish episcopate for the canonization of Padre Pio, and in 1983, already being Pope, began the process of his beatification.

What do we know about Saint Padre Pio? What is the secret of his personality, which is of great interest not only to the Church? Why did God perform and perform so many miracles thanks to his prayers?

Padre Pio was born on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcino, a small village near Benevento in southern Italy. He was the fifth of eight children of the spouses Giusepina de Nunzio and Graziano Forgione. At baptism, he received the name Francesco. As a five-year-old child, Francesco saw a miraculous vision of Jesus Christ and made his first vow to Him to "always belong to the Lord." At the age of 15, he entered the monastery of the Franciscan Capuchins, taking the name Pio (or Pius), a year later he took eternal vows and prepared to become a priest, studying philosophy and theology. Despite poor health and frequent illnesses, in 1910, at the age of 23, he was ordained a priest.

A few years later, Padre Pio was called up for military service, but was forced to interrupt it due to deteriorating health. He spent several months in the monastery of Foggia, and then on July 28, 1916, was transferred to the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he remained until the end of his life, becoming the spiritual mentor of the Franciscan youth, whom he taught not only by word, but also by his own example.

On September 20, 1918, during a prayer in front of the image of the crucified Christ, stigmata appeared on the hands, feet and side of Padre Pio. Thanks to this mysterious "crucifixion", similar to the one experienced by St. Francis of Assisi on Mount Verne, Padre Pio knew God better, and crowds of pilgrims came to San Giovanni Rotondo, who wanted to confess to an unusual monk and ask for his prayer. Following them, church hierarchs and journalists began to arrive at the small monastery. Everyone wanted to see Padre Pio and his stigmata. His extraordinary mystical experience was investigated not only by church experts, but also by doctors. Padre Pio had to endure all this in a spirit of obedience, even when the ecclesiastical authorities, on the advice of doctors, forbade him for two years from confessing the faithful and publicly celebrating the Holy Mass. All this time, representatives of the Holy See visited the monastery. Padre Pio repeatedly warned his abbot in advance to send a britzka for the next visitor, even before official information about the guest arrived at the monastery.

Then Padre Pio was examined by Dr. Festa, who, after conducting a series of analyzes, announced that science could not understand the nature of the appearance of stigmata, and after a two-year break, Padre Pio was allowed to again serve Mass in the presence of believers and confess them, and the monastery was again filled with pilgrims.

Padre Pio led an ordinary monastic life and, despite physical suffering, was a very zealous priest. Often he had visions of the Passion of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Family, the Infant Jesus, and a guardian angel. In these visions, he communicated with the dead and saints, talked with souls in purgatory. The confession of Padre Pio had a special power: he saw through the soul of a penitent sinner. One day, a pilgrim who arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo began to demand from the monks that they immediately bring Padre Pio to him, to whom he wants to confess, because he does not have time to wait. Padre Pio said to the brothers: “This man has been going to confession for twenty-five years, and now he cannot wait five minutes.”. Padre Pio prophetically saw many events in the life of penitent people, no one could hide any sin from him, while he did not try to be a psychoanalyst, but simply reminded the gospel truths and advised, releasing sins: “Always keep calm and good mood, because you have nothing to fear ... Jesus and Mary are always there.”

Padre Pio spoke French, German and Greek, although he never learned any of them. It is claimed that he was endowed with the gift of bilocation: once during the war he appeared on the battlefield in Sicily and warned an unknown captain to move to another place; the captain obeyed and escaped death, because a shell hit the place where he had previously been.

Young people always gathered around Padre Pio, whom he taught the art of communicating with God. The prayer groups he founded have grown all over the world like mushrooms after rain. Padre Pio drew vitality from the Eucharist.

Once, when asked where to look for him after death, Padre Pio answered simply: "Go to the tabernacle, there you will meet Jesus, and also me."

He never parted with the rosary and encouraged others to recite the rosary, saying: “Try to love Mary and do everything to make her loved. Give the rosary and all will be well… The rosary is the triumph of the Lord.”

In 1922, the Religious Relief Society took the initiative to build a hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, and Padre Pio was the first to make a donation for the construction of the hospital. He himself was constantly in pain, and therefore was especially sensitive to the suffering of others. The list of names of those who were healed thanks to the prayer of Padre Pio could fill entire volumes.

Constant illnesses, stigmata and daily work exhausted Padre Pio's strength, and on September 23, 1968, he died; before his death, the stigmata disappeared from his body.

Padre Pio was an open, energetic, sincere person, he reacted vividly to everything, wished well to all people and was always in a hurry to help. He gave all his strength to the service of Christ and his brothers and sisters, confessed sinners for hours and called everyone to be saints. His life was evidence of the existence of God.

The path of beatification for Padre Pio, like his whole life, built on simple and strict Christian law and tested faith, will be for us a sign of the presence of God among us. Few are able, like this blessed capuchin, to survive such a meeting with Jesus Christ and the changes that it entails, but each of us, thanks to sincere prayer, can come to know the peace of God, which “is the road to perfection…”

about. Pavel Varhol

Rycerz Niepokalanej, No. 5, 1999
(abbreviated by T. Shishova)

2002 by Pope John Paul II.

Born in 1887. He died in 1968, lived for 81 years.

The family was not rich, but distinguished by piety and piety. Francesco had been in poor health since childhood. He dreamed of becoming a priest and from childhood served as an altar boy in the parish church.

It is generally accepted that for the first time stigmata appeared at St. Francis of Assisi in 1224. According to the biographers of Saint Francis, the stigmata were bestowed on him on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross during prayer on Mount Verne. Since that moment, the Catholic Church has more than 300 cases of the appearance of stigmata recognized by the Church as authentic.

Francis of Assisi

Some stigmatics bleed constantly, while others bleed intermittently. Unlike ordinary wounds, stigmata are not treatable, but they do not lead to complications, they can remain unchanged for many years.

Most often, stigmata are formed in the places of the “five wounds of Christ”: on the palms (wrists), feet and side, but sometimes they appeared on other parts of the body (traces of the crown of thorns on the forehead, a trace of the cross on the shoulder, etc.).

Research.

The Catholic Church unequivocally recognizes the miraculous nature of the stigmata, however, in order to cut off cases of quackery, all cases of the appearance of stigmata are carefully studied, and with the involvement of independent doctors. The canonization process for Padre Pio took 20 years.

Materialistic researchers either accuse the bearers of stigmata of deceit (historian Sergio Luzzato stated that Pio from Pietrelcina made himself stigmata with phenol), or explain their appearance by self-suggestion and neurosis on religious grounds.

Padre Pio Predictions:

The punishment that will come down cannot be compared with any other that God allowed from the beginning of the creation of the world. A third of the people will die.

That short time should be diligently used, not succumbed to evil, nor yield to it. Your task and duty will be to point out the impending danger, then there will be no excuses, do not say that you did not know about it. The sky waits and warns for a long time, but people neglect it.

When it is late, a large rock will emerge from the whiteout during the night - a night without a declaration of war. From Bucharest to Nuremberg and from Dresden to Berlin, the lines will be occupied by troops. The third line will run from the Ruhr basin to Kaliningrad. Then black and gray birds will fly from the south with such power that they will change the sky and the earth. The main headquarters of the troops? Kirsberg near Bonn. The first bomb will fall on the church near the Bavarian Forest. Everything will be destroyed and no one can escape it. Over there, tanks are driving through huts and houses, people are sitting in this technique, but their bodies are hanging down, they are dead, all around with black faces. Floods will destroy towns and villages. Southern England with the northern coast will disappear, Scotland will survive. In the west, the land will disappear, and new lands will appear.

New York and Marseille will perish. Paris will be two-thirds destroyed. Raisten, Augsburg, Vienna will be retained. Augsburg and the countries south of the Danube will not feel the consequences of the war. Whoever looks in the direction of destruction will perish, his heart will not withstand this terrible sight. More people will die in one night than in two world wars. Then faith will become stronger. Two years after this horror, the golden time will come.

In 2002, the Vatican recognized Padre Pio as a saint, although 80 years earlier he called him an ignorant, self-crippled psychopath exploiting popular gullibility. And in the 20s, he was even isolated for a whole decade in a separate cell, forbidding to perform masses and accept confessions.

Exactly 50 years ago, on September 23, 1968, the famous stigmatist died. Padre Pio from Pietrelcina, who left behind more mysteries than answers.

For more than half a century, he lived in the small Italian monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, which eventually became the center of mass pilgrimages and brought cosmic profits to the papacy.

The Sick Priest

Francesco Forgione was born in 1887 in the Italian town of Pietrelcina in 1887. At the age of 16, the young man entered the order of the Capuchin Franciscans and took the monastic name Pio, and at 23 he became a Catholic priest.

During the First World War, Francesco-Pio repeatedly tried to be drafted into the Italian army, but each time they were forced to go home due to poor health. The leaders of the order were tired of the ever-ill young priest and decided to hide him in a remote monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo.

It would seem that the problem is solved, but in 1918 the Pope PiyuXI It was reported that a Capuchin monk Pio appeared in Italy, whose arms, legs and side were covered with non-healing wounds.

Reference. Stigmata are painful bleeding wounds that periodically appear on the body of Catholics (only with them!), on the palms of the hands and feet, in places where nails were supposedly hammered during the crucifixion Christ. In rare cases, the stigmata may also appear on the left side of the body. In the place where the spear of the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus pierced.

The vast majority of cases of stigmata are man-made, and Catholic ascetics deliberately mutilate themselves in order to call the people to church. That is why stigmata almost always appear among monks living in remote monasteries that do not have a stable income.

Catholic saint or impudent swindler?

At the beginning of the last century, the Catholic Church was more skeptical, and a large number of people who wanted to profit from Christian miracles made it necessary to carefully check every case of the appearance of stigmata.

The doctors sent from the Vatican to San Giovanni Rotondo indeed recorded the presence of non-healing wounds on the body of the monk Pio, but could not determine their nature.

Agostino Gemelli, one of the founders of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, even called Pio a psychopath who crippled himself for the sake of faith. But the fame of stigmatism began to spread at an incredible pace, and the first pilgrims were drawn to the small monastery.

Pope Pius XI, who considered the padre an ordinary swindler, in 1923 ordered him not to leave his own cell and not communicate with parishioners. For 10 years, medical commissions visited the monastery many times, but not one of them managed to convict Pio of forgery.

And then the Vatican surrendered, allowing the priest to participate in masses and receive confessions. The flow of believers to San Giovanni Rotondo was incredible, and the queue for confession to Padre Pio stretched for several days.

Some historians argue that the level of income of the monastery was so high that other priests not only covered up the fraudulent actions of the future saint, but also gave him phenol to create stigmata. They also say that the priest himself was very fond of money and during communion he repeatedly had sexual intercourse with parishioners. But such words can be the usual revenge of ill-wishers.

During sermons, Padre Pio most often closed the stigmata with a special bandage and showed them only to papal medical commissions, and after his death, his palms did not have any wounds at all.

Mysterious wonders

Many believers claimed that the constantly secreted blood on the hands of the priest smelled of flowers, and he himself could instantly move in space, being in two places at the same time. He "read" the soul of a believer, determining the degree of his faith, and in many cases performed real miracles.

In 1947, a blind girl was brought to him. Gemma di Georgie born without pupils. After praying and being touched by Padre Pio, the girl began to see, although her pupils did not appear. This happened in medical practice only once more and was recorded in the French city of Lourdes, where the saint lived. Bernadette.

In 1968, a two-year-old was brought to Pio Faith-Maria Calandra who previously had a defective bladder removed. 4 days after the confession, the doctors discovered the germ of a new bladder, and after 6 months the new organ was already functioning.

When, at the turn of the 21st century, the Vatican decided to canonize Padre Pio, it was necessary to reliably prove that he performed two miracles. It is noteworthy that the cases of Vera-Maria Calandra and Gemma di Giorgi were not even considered as miracles. Perhaps because the women were alive and an independent medical examination could confirm the perfect forgery.

Remains of Padre Pio in the Sanctuary of San Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo. The face is a silicone mask that reproduces her appearance. Photo by Maria Mansur. Source wikimedia.org

But miracles recognized the disappearance of stigmata after the death of a priest, as well as the recognition of a 9-boy, who in 2000 declared that Padre Pio, who had come in a dream, cured him of a deadly form of meningitis.

Padre Prophecies

As the priest himself said, on January 15, 1957, he himself came to him in a dream Jesus Christ who conveyed the message to mankind.

Padre Pio conscientiously wrote down this Message in a separate notebook and handed it over to the Vatican. The prophecies themselves were immediately classified, and the general public was told only about what interests the Catholic Church itself.

Like another famous prophet Nostradamus, Padre Pio did not exchange money for the near future. His prophecy refers to the year 2060, when Jesus promises to come down to Earth on a winter night, accompanied by howling thunders.

This year will be terrible, and a large number of “fiery statues” will fall from heaven to earth. The air will be saturated with smoking gases, and many cities will be completely destroyed.

The beginning of the catastrophe will be laid by a small European state, in which an ecclesiastical crisis will break out, and the war that has broken out in the East and West will claim millions of human lives. The armies of the warring powers will stand from Bucharest to Nuremberg, from Dresden to Berlin and from the Ruhr basin to Kaliningrad, and the first bomb will fall in the area of the Bavarian forest.

The priest wrote about the destruction of New York and Marseilles. According to him, Paris will lose a third of the inhabitants, southern and northern England will be flooded by the sea, and all cities south of the Danube will not be affected. Part of Europe will disappear under water, but new lands suitable for settlement will appear in the west. Only after this will the “golden time” come, and faith in God will become much stronger.

At the age of five, the boy fell ill with tuberculosis. He recovered, while many died from this disease. According to Francesco's confessor, Father Agostino, after that, little Forgione began to have religious visions. He talked with his Guardian Angel, the Madonna and Jesus himself… The child did not see anything strange in this, it seemed to him that it should be so…

Irina Shlionskaya