“Only one thing is necessary: lift up your spirit and love God.”
Padre Pio
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more commonly known as “Padre Pio,” is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating saints of modern times. With an incredible amount of miracles attributed to him, we look to Padre Pio as the patron saint of healing. We celebrate Padre Pio’s feast day on September 23rd.
Read about who Padre Pio was and some of the most influential moments of his life, and learn the prayers in which we ask for his intercession in times of pain, suffering, and doubt:
Table of contents
Who was Padre Pio?
St. Padre Pio is an example to us of what radical trust in God’s love for us looks like, despite the suffering he endured and battles he faced throughout his life.
Childhood and vocation
Born May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy, as Francesco Forgione, Padre Pio devoted himself to God at a very young age. Diaries from Francesco’s spiritual director note that Francesco began to experience ecstasies and apparitions as early as age 4 or 5. Francesco, however, didn’t realize that these were extraordinary experiences; he kept many of them to himself, thinking they were ordinary. Through more and more visions and encounters with the healing work of God, Francesco’s trust in Him only continued to grow, though his early life was certainly not without struggle.
Ultimately, Francesco became a Capuchin Friar in January 1903 at the age of 16. At this beginning point of his religious life, Francesco Forgione became Brother Pio of Pietrelcina.
[This is a very brief overview of Pio’s childhood and vocation. Join the Padre Pio: Saints in 7 Days Challenge on Hallow and learn more about Pio’s early life and miracles.]
Ordination
After entering the Capuchins, Pio progressively became sick and ill. His stomach refused food, and he was only able to drink minimal amounts of water. He left the monastery and moved back home at the recommendation of his doctors, but his health was still poor. With little hope of improvement of his health, Pio most desired to be ordained. Though he was quite young for ordination, the bishop ordained Pio on August 10, 1910. At 23, Brother Pio became Father Pio, or in Italian, Padre Pio, as we know him today.
Drafted during World War I, Pio discovered he had tuberculosis. Discharged from serving, Pio eventually moved to a different Capuchin Monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1917, where he grew his ministry and lived until his death on September 23, 1968.
Stigmata
In 1918, Europe was ravaged by World War I and the Spanish flu. It was a year of suffering for Pio, his community, and Europe. Amidst this suffering of the world, one day in September, Padre Pio said Mass at San Giovanni Rotondo. Afterward, he received a miraculous vision: he saw someone with Christ’s crucifixion wounds. After the vision, Pio realized he was physically dripping with blood – he had received the stigmata. Stigmata are the five wounds of Christ replicated in the human body. Around 400 people, including St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena, have claimed to have received the stigmata.
Upon receiving the stigmata, Pio tried to keep it a secret, though word spread about his reception of Christ’s wounds. This led to much interest and controversy.
[Learn more about Pio’s stigmata and what the Church thought of it by listening to Chapter 4 of the Padre Pio: Saints in 7 Days Challenge on Hallow.]
Canonization
In addition to the miracle of the stigmata that he experienced, God worked through Padre Pio to perform hundreds and hundreds of miracles on others throughout his lifetime – curing people of all kinds of sicknesses. Pio even founded a hospital near San Giovanni Rotondo called “Casa Sollieve della Sofferenza,” or the “Home for the Relief of Suffering” in 1956. The hospital still operates today and houses up to 1,000 patients. He also was known for his spiritual counseling to those seeking reconciliation.
Pio passed away in 1968, was beatified in 1999, and soon canonized in 2002 by Pope, now Saint, John Paul II.
We celebrate the Feast Day of Padre Pio on the anniversary of his death, September 23rd.
Why pray with Padre Pio?
On the day of Pio’s canonization, Pope Saint John Paul II delivered a beautiful homily on Pio’s life and his inspiration to us in our own journey with God. In his description of Pio’s inspiring humility and piety, JPII guides us to three ways to emulate the saint and reasons for us to seek his intercession: to bear the yoke of Christ, to be a person of prayer, and to love others mercifully.
To bear the yoke of Christ
“The evangelical image of the “yoke” recalls the many trials that the humble Capuchin of San Giovanni Rotondo had to face. Today we contemplate in him how gentle the “yoke” of Christ is, and how truly light is his burden when it is borne with faithful love. The life and mission of Padre Pio prove that difficulties and sorrows, if accepted out of love, are transformed into a privileged way of holiness, which opens onto the horizons of a greater good, known only to the Lord.” – JPII
Drawing from the Gospel of Matthew, JPII shared with us that Pio carried his many burdens – sickness, the stigmata, questioning from the Church – with love for Christ. He found a way to draw near to Christ in his suffering. As human beings ourselves, we know how challenging this is, and JPII recognized this. He encouraged us to consider how faith can help us make easy our yoke and lighten our burdens, though this takes tremendous courage – courage that we see in meditating on the life of Padre Pio.
To truly become a person of prayer
“In fact, the ultimate reason for the apostolic effectiveness of Padre Pio, the profound root of so much spiritual fruitfulness can be found in that intimate and constant union with God, attested to by his long hours spent in prayer and in the confessional. He loved to repeat, “I am a poor Franciscan who prays” convinced that “prayer is the best weapon we have, a key that opens the heart of God.” – JPII
In the homily, JPII shed light on Pio’s humble spirit rooted in prayer. Even throughout his life of suffering and sickness, Padre Pio also famously said, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” Pio inspires us to draw closer to God in our daily lives even through our challenges.
To love others mercifully
“Padre Pio was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making himself available to all by welcoming them, by spiritual direction and, especially, by the administration of the sacrament of Penance.” – JPII
JPII recognized Pio as a vessel for God’s love in his lifetime on earth. From his founding of a hospital to the hours he spent counseling others and the many miracles attributed to him, Pio’s life inspires us to recognize our own gifts and discover ways to love others in daily life and across our lifetimes.
Padre Pio Prayers
Have patience and persevere in the holy exercise of meditation; be content to begin with small steps till you have legs to run, better still wings to fly.
Padre Pio
Lean on these prayers to place your trust in His comfort and everlasting peace amidst your struggle and suffering. As Padre Pio said, begin with small steps.
Stay with me, Lord (short)
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.
Amen.
Stay with me, Lord (long)
Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.
Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak
and I need Your strength,
that I may not fall so often.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life,
and without You, I am without fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light,
and without You, I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice
and follow You.
Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You
very much, and always be in Your company.
Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is,
I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes;
death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength,
so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You.
It is getting late and death approaches,
I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers. I need You.
Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread,
so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You,
if not by communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it,
but the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.
Padre Pio Healing Prayer
Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me.
I thank you for sending your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free.
I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me.
Loving Father, touch me now with your healing hands, for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit.
Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.
Cast anything that should not be in me.
Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells.
Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas.
Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection by the power of Jesus’ precious blood.
Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body to heal and make new any diseased areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function.
Touch also my mind and my emotion, even the deepest recesses of my heart.
Saturate my entire being with your presence, love, joy, and peace, and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life.
And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower me to do your works so that my life will bring glory and honor to your holy name.
I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Pope Saint John Paul II’s Prayer for Padre Pio’s Intercession
On the day of Padre Pio’s canonization, then Pope, now Saint John Paul II shared with us the prayer for Pio’s intercession in our lives:
Teach us, we ask you, humility of heart so we may be counted among the little ones of the Gospel, to whom the Father promised to reveal the mysteries of his Kingdom.
Help us to pray without ceasing, certain that God knows what we need even before we ask him.
Obtain for us the eyes of faith that will be able to recognize right away in the poor and suffering the face of Jesus.
Sustain us in the hour of the combat and of the trial and, if we fall, make us experience the joy of the sacrament of forgiveness.
Grant us your tender devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother.
Accompany us on our earthly pilgrimage toward the blessed homeland, where we hope to arrive in order to contemplate forever the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Learn more about the life and ministry of Padre Pio by joining the Padre Pio: Saints in 7 Days Community Challenge on the Hallow App. After Padre Pio, we’ll journey with other inspiring saints for the following three weeks. If you haven’t downloaded Hallow yet, click below to join us in praying alongside Pio. God bless!
Also, check out the Hallow X Saint Candle – Padre Pio Candle!
