St. Pio of Pietrelcina

The Capuchin friar who bore the wounds of Christ for fifty years and spent his life in the confessional.

The story

Padre Pio received the visible stigmata in 1918 and bore them until the day before he died, when they vanished. He heard confessions for up to fifteen hours a day, read souls, bilocated, and endured years of suspicion from Church authorities with obedience. He built a hospital, the Home for the Relief of Suffering, and founded prayer groups worldwide.

What Pio teaches

Pray, hope, and don't worry. Suffering united to Christ becomes a channel of grace for others.

Patronage

civil defense volunteers, adolescents, stress relief.

Prayer

St. Pio, pray that we may love the Cross, frequent confession, and trust in God's mercy. Amen.