Padre Pio: Difference between revisions

Padre Pio is thought to be the first Catholic priest to bear the wounds of Christ. ([[Saint Francis]] was the first person known to have received the stigmata.) He also had the gifts of spiritual clairvoyance, conversion, discernment of spirits, visions, bilocation, healing and prophecy. It is said that once when a newly ordained Polish priest came to see him, Padre Pio remarked: “Someday you will be pope.” As prophesied, that priest became Pope John Paul II.<ref>Kenneth L. Woodward, ''Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn’t, and Why'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 157; C. Bernard Ruffin, ''Padre Pio: The True Story'' (Our Sunday Visitor, 1982), p. 361.</ref>

Author Kenneth L. Woodward writes in his book ''Making Saints'':  

<blockquote>From early adolescence on, Padre Pio spoke frequently in visions with [[Jesus]], [[Mother Mary|Mary]] and his own [[guardian angel]]. Those were the good times. Many a night, he reported, was spent in titanic struggles with the Devil, which left him bloodied, bruised and exhausted in the morning.<ref>Woodward, ''Making Saints'', pp. 156–57.</ref></blockquote>

Author Michael Grosso speaks further of these struggles. He says:  

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These encounters were physical. In one monastery where he served, you can still see claw marks and splattered ink spots made by the alleged demons. Once, the iron bars of the monk’s cell were found twisted out of shape after a night of grappling with invisible forces. Although no one beside the Padre ever saw the demons, the din they made was often heard by eavesdropping monks.  Even more striking, Padre Pio was often found unconscious, sometimes on the floor beside his bed, covered with bruises from the uncanny assaults. On another occasion he was found with broken bones in his arms and legs.

The point I want to make  about “demons” and evolution is this: It does appear, as a matter of psychological fact, that the more one advances in higher states of consciousness, the greater the likelihood of attracting combative, destructive forces that try to drag you back down to ordinary reality. The story of the [[Buddha]] struggling to meditate on the Immovable Spot under the Bo tree is a classic Eastern illustration.

In Pio’s case, the combat occurred at two levels: Throughout his life he was molested by invisible, “diabolic” forces. But throughout his life he was also persecuted by jealous, envious and malicious human beings, often individuals within the Church hierarchy.<ref>Michael Grosso, ''Who Is Padre Pio'', pp. 3–4.</ref>

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For ten years he was not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or hear confessions.

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Padre Pio had the ability to help souls walk the razor's edge. Like a guru in the Eastern tradition, he was able to wake up people to their true state of ignorance and turn souls back to God.  

Father Alberto D’Apolito tells this story of a blind man who was converted by what he called Padre Pio’s “loving rudeness.” A priest from the region of Salento told Father Alberto:

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“Father Alberto, there will come to you a blind man of my parish, who had gone to San Giovanni Rotondo for confession. But Padre Pio, upon seeing him, without allowing him to come close, shouted: ‘You filthy person, go away!’ I think that Padre Pio was too harsh with him.”

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Father Alberto said:  

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“I cannot say anything, for I do not know the reason for such severity. He certainly must have had his reasons. When I meet this blind person, I will question him.”

In fact, one morning after Mass, a few days after my arrival in that town, a blind man accompanied by a little girl came to me and said: “Do you know Padre Pio well?”  

At my affirmative reply, he added: “Would you say he is a saint?”

“No,” I replied. “In order to be a saint, he must first die, and then, after a rigorous process, he must be canonized by the Church."

Then the man said: “Father Alberto, I went to San Giovanni Rotondo to go to confession. I was about to approach the confessional when Padre Pio, seeing me, shouted: ‘You filthy person, go away!’ Offended and angry, I went away swearing. If he were a saint, he would not receive sinners in this manner.”  

I replied: “Yes, Padre Pio has been very harsh. He used a strong manner with you. He may have had a reason that is unknown to us.”

Meanwhile, I already suspected the reason for which Padre Pio had called him a filthy person and sent him away. But I wanted to be sure, through the words of the blind man himself.

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As Father Alberto questioned the man, he found out that he was sleeping with the young woman who was assisting him but refused to marry her. When the man revealed this fact Father Alberto said:

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“Now I can tell you that Padre Pio is a saint, a chosen one of God. He sent you away, calling you a filthy person, without knowing you, because he smelled from a distance the stench of your sins; because the Lord made him see the abyss in which your soul has fallen and the mud that covers it and disfigures it. You went to San Giovanni Rotondo with the hope of gaining the grace of the sight of the body, and not of the soul. This is the reason why Padre Pio called you a ‘filthy person,’ and sent you away—to make you reflect, to shake you and convert you.”

Not convinced by my words, the blind man got up and went away. [But] after a few days he returned, and approaching the confessional where I was, he said to me: “Father, I need to speak with you.”

Without making him wait, I left the confessional and went with him behind the main altar. Sitting down, he said to me: “Father, I have meditated for a long time on your words. Yes, what you told me last time was true. I had gone to Padre Pio with the hope of receiving the miracle of my sight, and not to change my life. Padre Pio was right in calling me a filthy person, for I have always been one. I, too, am convinced that Padre Pio is a saint. The young woman who assists me and I have decided to get married as soon as possible. Now, I beg of you to hear the confession of my sins, and to reconcile me with God. As soon as our situation is rectified, we will go to San Giovanni Rotondo to thank Padre Pio for this great grace obtained from God, with his prayers and his  loving rudeness.”<ref>Alberto D’Apolito, ''Padre Pio of Pietrelcina'', pp. 253–56.</ref>

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