January 9, 2025

The Holiness of St. Padre Pio There are a number of reasons for this. Many might cite the fact that he received many extraordinary graces including visions, the stigmata, bilocation, and even miracles attributed to his intercession. However, it should always be noted that Holy Mother Church never raises a man or woman to the altar for extraordinary graces. As proof of that, there are countless saints who were never known to have received any of these extraordinary gifts. Instead, the Church confirms the sanctity of the saints by examining the way that the lived their lives. The primary question which is to be verified during the process of canonization is whether the man or woman lived a life of heroic virtue. In the case, of St. Pio, he certainly lived such a life. Although he spent almost his entire adult life at his friary of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, he was able to impact the lives of his fellow friars, his community, and indeed the world through the ministry of his priesthood. In fact, it is through his faithfulness as a priest that St. Pio lived out his life of heroic virtue. First and foremost, he had a deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist which was the center of his day. Then, he gave himself to others through administering the sacrament of Penance. Like, St. John Vianney, he might spend double digit hours a day hearing confessions and providing wise spiritual counsel. Similar to the French saint, he was able to read souls, and he used that gift to help the penitents make good confessions. The long hours in the confessional were due to the crowds that would come to this remote monastery in order to confess their sins to the Lord through St. Pio. St. Pio was also known for his devotion to Our Lady and the Holy Rosary and his concern for the poor. Many, many rosaries were prayed by the saint, and he encouraged his spiritual children to do the same. Through his efforts, a hospital was built in the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo to help the ill and suffering with whom St. Pio was especially close as one who suffered poor health for most of his life.   Two Places at Once: Padre Pio’s Bilocation However, St. Padre Pio’s miracles have spread his repution, and I would like to share a story that demonstrates the awesome gifts that God gave him and he used for the saving of souls. The story begins when Pio was 17 years old and a student in Sant’Elia a Pianisi. At around 11:00 p.m. on the night of January 18, 1905, Pio was in choir at the seminary when he at once found himself in a distant home he had neither visited nor seen. The home was the home of a wealthy man who was dying while the wife was about to give birth. Then the Virgin Mary appeared to him and told him that she was entrusting to him the care of the child to be born. The Blessed Virgin Mary requested that Pio polish her to transform her from a diamond in the rough to be a brilliant gem. Pio replied, “How is this possible, since I am still a mere divinity student and do not yet know whether I will one day have the fortune and joy of being a priest? And even if I become a priest, how can I take care of this child, since I am so far away?” The Blessed Virgin Mary reassured him saying, “Do not doubt. She will come to you, but first you will meet her at St. Peter’s in Rome.” Then, Pio found himself back in the choir. Within three weeks of the event, Pio wrote down the details of his bilocation and gave the document to his superiors. They kept it locked away and spoke to no one about it. The actual copy of his document is preserved in the friary of Santa Marie delle Grazie. Death, Birth, and a Surprise Visitor On that same January night over 350 miles away in Udine, there was a wealthy man, Giovanni Rizanni, who was dying and whose wife, Leonilde, was in the eighth month of her pregnancy. About the time that she had become pregnant with their sixth child, her husband had become terminally ill. The man was a fervent Mason and he wanted nothing to do with the Catholic Church despite his wife’s strong Catholic faith and her imploring him to allow a priest to visit with him before he passed away. Little did she know how her prayers would be answered. When she was in the room with her husband, she looked up to see a Capuchin friar. When the friar saw her, he quickly left the room. Leonilde followed him out of the room but did not seen him again. While trying to locate the friar, she heard the family dog begin to bay which she understood as a sign that her husband’s death was nigh. Because the dog continue to bay, she decided to go outside and untie the dog. Before she could get outside she went into labor. Fortunately, she was able to call the family’s business manager who was at the home, and he helped her deliver a baby girl. As soon as she could, the wife took the baby upstairs to the nursery where she placed the child in the crib and then rejoined her husband who was indeed nearing the end. Meanwhile the business manager went outside and confronted the group of Masons who were physically preventing any priest from entering the home. Appealing to them, he convinced them to let the priest enter if not for the husband than to baptize the child who had been born a month early. The men blocking the entrance to the home stepped aside, and a priest who had been waiting patiently in the street went immediately…