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Monday, July 29, 2013

Another St. Padre Pio Quote!


Quote of St. Francis


St. Padre Pio Quotes











Beautiful videos of Poor Clare nuns, Italy

Here are two beautiful videos on some Poor Clares in Italy.  Not sure which monastery, if I find out I'll update this post.  The sisters are speaking Italian but someone speaking German posted them on YouTube, hence the title and text in German.  I am so bummed it is not in dubbed in English or has English subtitles!

Part One



Part Two



For those who have the DVD "St. Clare of Assisi and The Poor Clares" (English narration and spoken English translation) that was put out by Oriente Occidente Productions, you might recognize one of the white veiled novices (young girl with heavy/thick eyebrows) who is in the above 2 videos as a black veiled nun in this DVD pictured below.  This DVD is available at Amazon here.

(this is the cover of my DVD, but Amazon has a plainer cover for this DVD but also this cover for the Amazon Instant Video of this.)

Sancte Francisce, ora pro nobis


St Francis, pray for us!

St. Padre Pio Photo Album Part 7


"Practice the little virtues which pertain to your littleness - patience, tolerance with your neighbor, humility, sweetness, affability, bearing your imperfections, and many others."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"May God see to it that you grow to be a beautiful tree, divine heavenly seed. May God see to it that you produce mature fruit, and when you have done so, may God preserve you from the wind that makes the fruit fall to the ground......This desire must be within you just like the orange trees of the Genoa Rivera, which are laden with fruit, flowers and leaves combined, almost all year round so that your desires may always bear fruit when the occasion presents itself, working a little every day."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




Padre Pio spent up to fifteen hours a day hearing confessions. His confessional was often called, "a tribunal of mercy and firmness." Padre Pio was firm with the penitents. He would not allow people to make excuses for their sins. People would sometimes wait seven days or longer to make their confession to him. On the last day of his life he was taken to the sacristy of the church in a wheelchair and heard his last seven confessions. Pope Pius XII called Padre Pio "the confessor of Europe."




A mosaic of St. Michael, the Archangel, in the monastery church of "Our Lady of Grace" where Padre Pio celebrated Mass for many years. Padre Pio had a great devotion to St. Michael and prayed to him daily. He often encouraged people to visit the shrine of St. Michael in Monte Sant' Angelo. He had made his own pilgrimage there as a youth. For Padre Pio, the angelic realm was visible, real and very near. From childhood, he could see his guardian angel in form, and often conversed with him. At times, he spoke of the beautiful "celestial choirs" which he could hear. Padre Pio lived his whole life, close to God and in the company of angels.




This painting, "Our Lady of Purity" was a gift to Padre Pio from an antique dealer. Padre Pio loved this painting of the Madonna but hesitated to accept it as he felt it was too expensive a gift to accept. He did however, accept it, and it hung on the wall in cell number one, the cell where he lived for many years at the monastery of Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo. Ever encouraging people to have devotion to the Virgin Mary, he once wrote to one of his spiritual children, "You must remember that you have in Heaven, not only a Father, but also a Mother.




Padre Pio's cell number one at the monastery of Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo. Padre Pio had many devotional objects in his cell including a crucifix, a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a picture of the Holy Father and a picture of Our Lady Liberatrix (the Madonna which was venerated in his hometown of Pietrelcina). Also in his room was a photograph of his mother and father, Maria Giuseppa and Grazio Forgione, a photo of Mary Pyle, his American secretary, and a picture of St. Bernadette of Lourdes. Above his desk was a picture of the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, the statue that is venerated in the shrine of St. Michael the Archangel, near San Giovanni Rotondo. Opposite his bed hung the beautiful painting of Our Lady of Purity.




A painting of Our Lady of Pompeii - Padre Pio had a great devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii. He had made a pilgrimage to her shrine near Naples, Italy when he was fourteen years old and on several other occasions after he was ordained to the priesthood. He made countless novenas to Our Lady of Pompeii throughout his life. Regarding Our Lady, he used to say, "She treats me as if I were her only child on the face of the earth. She comes to me whenever I need her."




An image of Our Lady Liberatrix (Our Lady of Liberty), the patroness of Padre Pio's hometown of Pietrelcina, Italy. Padre Pio had a great devotion to Our Lady Liberatrix and always kept a picture of her in his cell. Many of the residents of Pietrelcina observed that Padre Pio, as a newly ordained priest, spent many hours in the parish church, in prayer before the beautiful statue of Our Lady Liberatrix. He used to say, "Be very grateful to the Madonna, for it was she who gave us Jesus."




Padre Pio passed away on September 23rd, 1968. In death, he was serene and beautiful. In his hands were placed a crucifix, a rosary and the Rule of St. Francis and around his shoulders was placed his priestly stole. The Bishop of the Diocese, his Excellency Andrea Cesarano, is seen at the bier. He had governed the diocese of Manfredonia for more than thirty-five years and was called "Padre Pio's bishop." Speaking about Padre Pio, he said, "I admired the serenity of his spirit, the joviality of his character and his total submission to the decisions of the Holy See concerning himself." On many occasions this prelate of the Church would visit the monastery and instead of giving his own blessing would take Padre Pio's hand and raise it in a blessing.




The funeral procession for Padre Pio who died on September 23, 1968. His casket was placed in an open hearse and driven through the streets of San Giovanni Rotondo. The whole town was in mourning. Over 100,000 people attended his funeral. Overhead, helicoptors of the Italian Air Force showered flowers on the crowds below. In Rome, Pope Paul VI celebrated a suffrage Mass for Padre Pio. The Father Guardian of the monastery said of Padre Pio, "He desired to die on his feet, at his place of work, after a day spent with others in prayer and in his ministry for good."




Padre Alessio Parente, Padre Pio's secretary for many years, pauses to say a prayer at the tomb of his spiritual father.
"For many, death is a sorrowful event. For Padre Pio, it was like a release from prison or a long awaited journey home. His life was completely oriented toward attaining Heaven."

- Fr. Federico de Macchia Valforte




On June 16, 2002 Padre Pio was canonized in Rome. Over 300,000 people attended, making it one of the largest canonization ceremonies in the Vatican's history. Pope John Paull II announced that St. Pio's feast day would be an obligatory memorial on the Roman Calendar. This means that the feast must be observed in the Mass on the day it occurrs unless a solemnity falls on the same day. St. Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr, is the only other saint who died in the twentieth century who is honored with an obligatory memorial.




On June 16, 2002 Padre Pio was canonized in Rome. Over 300,000 people attended, making it one of the largest canonization ceremonies in the Vatican's history. Pope John Paull II announced that St. Pio's feast day would be an obligatory memorial on the Roman Calendar. This means that the feast must be observed in the Mass on the day it occurrs unless a solemnity falls on the same day. St. Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr, is the only other saint who died in the twentieth century who is honored with an obligatory memorial.

St. Padre Pio Photo Album Part 6


Padre Pio's shoes - Because of the wounds of the stigmata which pierced Padre Pio's feet, he had to wear specially made shoes of soft leather with the top cut out. His feet were always very swollen. His fellow Capuchins noticed that he sometimes rested his weight on the edges of his feet and his heels so as to take the pressure off of the center, where the wounds were. Padre Pellegrino who attended him said, "Padre Pio's feet were very painful, so much so that I was in a panic whenever I had to help him put on his shoes. It was enough to touch his instep ever so slightly to cause him great pain."




"I am ready for anything as long as Jesus is happy and will save the souls of my brethren, especially those He has entrusted to my care."

-St. Pio of Pietrelcina




The beautiful sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace church in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Padre Pio was sent to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1916 and remained there until his death in 1968. Our Lady of Grace is the Marian image most closely associated with Padre Pio. On June 17, 2002, the day following Padre Pio's canonization, Pope John Paul II spoke to a large gathering of pilgrims in Rome and said, "May the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom Padre Pio called by the beautiful name of "Our Lady of Grace," help us to follow in the footprints of this Religious who is so beloved by the people."




"My heart is filled with a fire of love....It is a delicate and very gentle flame which consumes without causing any pain....this is a wonderful thing for me, something I will perhaps never understand until I get to Heaven."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"I can only say that when I am close to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament my heart throbs so violently that it seems to me at times that it must burst out of my chest. Sometimes at the altar my whole body burns in an indescribable manner. My face in particular seems to go on fire."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"The altar was Padre Pio's spring-board for personal growth in sanctity. It was also the place where he bargained with God for an endless number of graces and favors for his neighbor."

- Fr. Fernando of Riese Pio X




"Padre Pio, with his silence, his prayer, and his suffering, was a mystery of love, expiation, and salvation, for Italy and for the world."

- Giorgio Berlutti




"I have been very close to Padre Pio during the celebration of his Mass, when he seemed, at the Elevation, to disappear in the Eucharist."

- Ferdinando Gambardella




"God is continually fixed in my mind and imprinted on my heart. I never lose sight of Him."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"For the feast of the Infant Jesus, my wish for you is that your heart may be His cradle adorned with flowers where He can rest without the slightest discomfort."

St. Pio of Pietrelcina




This chapel was built by the local country people of Pietrelcina in the spot where Padre Pio received the invisible stigmata. The marks of Christ's Passion appeared intermittently on the body of Padre Pio from 1910 to 1918. Even when the external signs of the wounds were not visible, the pain was always present. This was considered a period of preparation for the visible stigmata which occurred on September 20, 1918 and which lasted 50 years (1918-1968). Padre Pio said, "I am suffering, it is true, and suffering very much, but I am extremely happy, for even in the midst of this suffering the Lord never ceases to make me experience inexpressible joy."




"Jesus, be the comfort, support, and recompense in time and in blessed eternity, not only for me, but also for all those souls which I love with paternal tenderness."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"Since only God knows whether we will finish this year, we should spend it in reparation for the past and in preparation for the future."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Padre Pio Photo Album Part 5


"A Christian soul never lets a day go by without meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"By his life given wholly to prayer and to listening to his brothers and sisters, [Padre Pio] this humble Capuchin friar, astonished the world."

- Pope John Paul II




"May the Lord confirm with His blessings, these wishes of mine, for your happiness is very close to my heart and I work and pray continuously for this end."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




Padre Pio celebrated Mass with an innate dignity. During the Holy Sacrifice his face became ardent, pale, transfigured. Great silent sobs shook him from time to time and he would wipe his tears with a handkerchief. Everything about him spoke of how intensely he was living the Passion of Christ.




Padre Pio shares a joyful moment with Padre Eusebio Notte, his assistant and close companion for five years. Padre Eusebio said, "My favorite reflection of Padre Pio is the kind of life he lived. Not miracles or anything like that. You can find that in the lives of all the saints. . . He would get up very early in the morning, at two o'clock a.m. and say the rosary and meditate. Afterwards, Mass. Then for many hours he heard confessions. When he finally went to bed at night, he would break up his sleep to pray the rosary and other prayers. . . He was a priest in whom God was particularly alive. He was like a lamp to enlighten people and bring them on the right path to God."




In this photo, Padre Pio is visiting the sick in the hospital which he founded, "The Home for the Relief of Suffering." Today it is considered to be one of the finest hospitals in Europe. Padre Pio never took any credit for the success of the "Home" but referred everything to God. He said, "This is not my work but God's, just as He shows me." To the doctors who were employed there he said, "Bring God to the sick; this will help them more than any other remedy."




Padre Pio daily blessed many objects and images which were brought to him for that purpose. We see him kissing a statue of the Sacred Heart after having blessed it. Padre Pio prayed the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus every day for all of the people who requested his prayers.




Padre Pio kisses the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. He said, "May Jesus always be the pilot of the little boat of your spirit. May Mary be the star which shines on your path and may she show you the safe way to reach the Heavenly Father."




"Live in such a way that your Heavenly Father may be proud of you, as He is proud of so many other chosen souls."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




Padre Pio embracing one of his spiritual sons. As a spiritual director, he was understanding and paternal and at the same time very strict. To one of his spiritual children Padre Pio once said, "You understand and are perfectly well-aware of the responsibility I have assumed before Jesus for you. If something evil takes place to your spiritual detriment, Jesus will ask me to account for it directly."

St. Padre Pio Photo Album Part 4


Padre Pio's parents, Grazio and Maria Giuseppa Forgione shared a long life of poverty and hard work on their tiny land holding. Three of their children died as infants. Grazio went to America twice to find work to sustain his family and to earn the needed money for Padre Pio's seminary education, while Maria Giuseppa remained at home to care for the family.




A photograph of Private Francesco Forgione (Padre Pio). Padre Pio was already a priest when he was drafted into the Italian army along with 60 other members of the Capuchin order. He was called up for military service when Italy entered the First World War. He was 30 years old and was assigned to the 10th Company of the Italian Medical Corps in Naples. He prayed to Jesus to "have compassion on the poor nations, so tried by the misfortune of war, and to cause His justice to give way at last to mercy." Padre Pio experienced a divine response to his prayers for Jesus appeared to him and answered him by means of a gesture which communicated to him - "Slowly, slowly." This divine visitation seemed to signal the approach of peace.




"May Jesus be the star which guides our steps constantly in the wilderness of this present life and bring us without delay to the haven of salvation."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




A photo of Padre Pio's hometown of Pietrelcina, Italy, with the Capuchin friary in the background. On one occasion, in 1909, Padre Pio was walking in Pietrelcina with Don Salvatore Pannullo, the parish priest of the town. Padre Pio told Don Salvatore that he could hear angels singing and church bells ringing and he perceived the fragrance of incense. Padre Pio said that someday a church would be built on the very spot where they were standing, and would be for the glory and praise of God. It was a prophecy that came to pass many years later. Construction for a church and friary was begun in 1926, a gift to Padre Pio from his American secretary, Mary Pyle. He named the friary, "Holy Family."




"God chooses souls for Himself and in spite of my unworthiness He has chosen even mine to help Him in the tremendous task of human salvation."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"As long as there remains a drop of blood in our body, there will be a struggle between right and wrong."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




An early photograph of Brother Pio. One of his classmates said, "He was always humble, recollected and silent. He had something that distinguished him from others...He was very handsome. His behavior which was so different from that of the others was admired by everybody. He was not shy in character, but affable and very simple...His personality was truly beautiful because of his countenance and because of his self possession. He distinguished himself from other students by his modesty, humility, and great piety."




On August 19, 1919, this exceptional photograph of Padre Pio with his wounds uncovered was taken in the garden of the monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo. It is the first document which could be defined as official of the acknowledgement of the stigmata and was made at the request of his Superiors, one year after the permanent stigmatization. Padre Pio was thirty-two years old. The photograph was taken by Padre Placido, a companion and fellow classmate of his. Notice that Padre Pio's expression is rather sad. He did not want the photograph to be taken.




"I don't know how to thank the Heavenly Father for His mercy when He introduces souls to me to whom I can be helpful in some way."

- St. Pio of Pietrelcina




"Jesus likes to give himself to simple souls; we must make an effort to acquire this beautiful virtue of simplicity . . . Jesus said, 'Unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' But before He taught us this by His words, He had already put it into practice. He became a child and gave us the example of that simplicity He was to teach us later also by His words. . . We must try to keep our thoughts pure, our ideas upright and honest, and our intentions holy."

-St. Pio of Pietrelcina