Padre Pio Canonized Saint June 16, 2002 Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II.
Padre Pio was an Italian Catholic
priest born in 1887, and
died in 1968. What attracted my attention to this priest was that at
the age of
thirty, he received what is called a Stigmata, which consists of five
wounds.
One in each hand, one in each foot, and one wound in his chest which
seemed to
emulate the wounds of Christ. He bore these wounds for 50 years until
he died
at age 80. I must mention four very interesting facts here concerning
the
stigmata. The Catholic Church has been keeping records of all other
people who
had the Stigmata since the 1300s.
There are about
320 stigmatists on record.
Out of the 320,
280 of them are women, and only 40 are men. This is a ratio of 7 to 1.
One would expect a 50-50 ratio.
Padre Pio is the
only priest who wore the Stigmata. One would think that the majority of
stigmatized people would be priests.
After bearing the
wounds for 50 years, several days before the Padre died, the wounds
completely disappeared.
It
has been reported and documented by many people that Padre Pio had the
following gifts:
healing of the sick
made blind people
see
made cripple
people walk
converted sinners
gift of perfume i.e.
people have reported that they received the scent roses when in the
proximity of Padre Pio
bilocation i.e. he
was seen to have appeared in two places at the same time.
told people of
sins they committed in the past
Recall Padre Pio
died in 1968. There are reports of
people who have seen Padre Pio after 1968. I myself have met one such
person
It
has been said that Padre Pio was a living reminder
of the Crucified Christ.
Padre Pio