Born in Pietrelcina, Italy in 1887, his father and mother were farmers and struggled to make ends meet. On at least two occasions his father left the country to find work, traveling to Jamaica and New York City. 

His birth name was Francesco Fiorgioni and at a very young age, he developed a desire to become a Friar. In his mid-teens, he entered the Capuchins and took the name Pius or, in short, Pio. 

In 1910 he was ordained and assigned to the convent of Santa Maria del Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo. 

On September 20, 1918, while saying mass, Padre Pio had a vision of Jesus and, when the vision was over, he was left with the stigmata, on his hands, feet, and side. 

Unfortunately, in 1924 and again in 1931, the authenticity of Pio’s stigmata was challenged and he was not allowed to say mass or hear confessions during these investigations for seven years. 

Though he rarely left the Friary, people flocked to see him. 

When finally allowed again, Padre Pio would say mass at 5 am, then hear confessions until noon, when he would take a break to pray with the sick, and then hear more confessions in the afternoon. 

In 1948, a young parish priest named Carl Wojtya went to Pio for confession, and in 1962 as Archbishop, he asked Padre Pio to pray for a woman with throat cancer. In two weeks, she was healed. 

Always concerned about the sick and suffering, Pio conceived of a revolutionary hospital concept in 1940. And after WWII, in 1946, the ground was broken on “The House for the Alleviation of Suffering”, a technological marvel. 

He died on this day in 1968. On June 16th, 2002, with more than 300 hundred thousand people attending the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, he was Canonized by St. Pope John Paul II. 

St. Padre Pio, please pray for us.