From a letter to Annita  Rodote on July 25, 1915 on how to attend Mass:

"The Divine Master calls the church the house of prayer.

In order to avoid irreverence and imperfections I exhort you in the Lord to:

Enter the church in silence and with great respect.

Take the holy water and make the sign of the cross carefully and slowly.

Before God in the Blessed Sacrament genuflect devoutly.

At your pace, kneel down and render to Jesus the tribute of you presence.

Confide to him all your needs, and those of others.

Speak to him with filial abandonment.

Be very composed when standing up, kneeling down, and sitting.

Carry out every religious act with the greatest devotion.

Be modest in your glance.

Don't turn you head here and there to see who enters and leaves.

Don't laugh.

Don't speak to anybody, except when requested for charity or other strict necessity.

Say the words distinctly, observe the pauses, and never hurry.

Behave in such a way that all the presents are edified by you.

Don't leave without asking Jesus for his blessing, and forgiveness for your shortcomings.

Leave the church recollected and calm."

The Mass with Padre Pio

from the written correspondence between Padre Pio and Cleonice Morcaldi in the 1920's:

"My Mass  is a sacred accomplishment of the Passion of Jesus."

     "In knowing the Passion of Jesus, you will also know my Passion."

"The Mass is the complete union between Jesus and me."

"All of Paradise is close to the altar when I say Mass."

"The angels attend my Mass In legions."

"The Holy Virgin assists me."

    "I want to expiate the sins of all, like Jesus did on the cross. '

"I suffer all what Jesus suffered, from the Garden to the Cross."

"I inadequately suffer to the extent a human creature can possibly suffer."

The sufferings are so acute that they can neither be described nor imagined.

I suffer the agony of death like Jesus in the Garden Gethsemane.

The offertory is the moment when the soul becomes detached from all that is profane.

I suffer the crowning of thorns during the Holy Mass and also before and after  it.

Without the crown of thorns the immolation would not be complete.

The thorns are around the whole head.

The crown of thorns is never taken away.

"The head and the heart are the wound that hurt the most."

"I suffer the scourging from the beginning to the end of the Mass,

but more intensely after the Consecration."

Help me carry the cross. I carry it for  all.

I suffer the bitterness of gall very often during the Mass.

I also speak the "seven words" that Jesus stated on the Cross.

During the Way of the Cross I am Jesus Himself.

Jesus himself helps me like Simon of Cyrene and Veronica

At the Calvary, there where screams, blasphemies, loud clamor,

and threats... that was really an uproar.

I suffer the most from the Consecration to the Communion.

During the Consecration a new, awesome and wonderful

annihilation and creation happens.

"My suffering is insignificant compared to the  suffering Jesus experienced." 

"The mass gives to God an infinite glory"

I don’t want my Calvary to be alleviated; rather to make it harder. We must suffer.

in His last gaze the dying Jesus looked towards His Holy Mother.

In the Communion I ask the Lord to let me be another Jesus, all Jesus, always Jesus.

"My Communion is a fusion. Like two candles that fuse together

and cannot be distinguished one from the other. "

I die mystically, at the Holy Communion.

The Communion is the culminating point of my suffering.

"Listen to the Mass the way the virgin Mary stood at the Calvary"

 O lord, don't strike my poor brothers, strike me.

I take all iniquities on myself,  as it is part of the Divine Sacrifice.

I see all my children who come to the altar, as if in a mirror.

"Get involved like John in the last supper and near the Cross."

"Get involved like Mary and the pious women."

" In the Mass we need to show compassion and love."

"The holy mass regenerates the world."

I want to save my soul at any cost.

I tell Mary: Here are the children of your Son.

The fruits that we receive at Mass cannot be enumerated.

We will know it only in Paradise.

"If we only knew how God regards it, we would

risk our lives to be present at a single Mass."

"It is easier for the earth to be without the sun than without the mass."

"I live for Jesus Christ, I live for his glory, I live to serve him, I live to love him."

"In the communion Jesus put his delight in his creature."

"Mass is redemption of your soul and reconciliation with God."

"I find my rest on the Cross."

"The angels around the altar adore and love."

"The Eucharist gives and idea of the union we will have in heaven."

"The Gospel is the conversation of God with men."

"I put last gaze on my brothers in exile."

"How could I live failing even for a single morning to receive Jesus in the Communion?"

  " May God the omnipotent bless you. "

"If it depended on me I would never leave the altar."

Ecstasy

Padre Pio went in ecstasy many times since he was a child. The phenomenon has been witnessed, reported and documented.

Here are some expressions of Padre Pio were he seems to look at something beyond what we are used to see.

The gift of Tears

Padre Pio cried frequently and abundantly.  The are many testimonies. One example:

Brother Leo  (Fra' Leone) classmate of Padre Pio 1903-8, testified: "While praying, Padre Pio was always crying, silently,

and so abundantly that his tears were leaving traces on the stone pavement of the choir.

We youngsters made fun of him. So he took the habit of lying on the floor hi large handkerchief in front of him.

After praying he would take the handkerchief that was all wet. You could have squeezed it!"

 "good works are the fruit of many tears and of a lot of suffering."