St. Padre Pio Mass

Being at five in the morning near the altar of Padre Pio was really a close encounter of the special kind with the supernatural. The Mass of Padre Pio was a spectacular mystical event, mixing the height of the human complete immolation to God, that we could see, with a mystical and physical renewal of the Passion of Christ from the Garden to the Golgotha, which we couldn't see, but were able to feel.

Padre Pio: “I am unworthy to represent Jesus on earth, to be Christ on the altar. The responsibility of the priesthood scares me."[1] [2]

Mary Ingoldsby: “The early morning call to climb the steep hill to the friary for the 5 AM Mass was a penitential rite in itself.”[3] During Mass “His face suggested the face of a suffering Christ bowed down beneath the weight of the cross.”[4]

Padre Pio Capuano: There is no report of any other place in the world were people would be waiting for hours at the locked door of a church, rain or shine or snow or wind or cold, to attend to a Mass celebrated at four or five in the morning.[5]

Rev. Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, “in April 1948” attended Padre Pio’s Mass: “It was long. He was suffering profoundly. On the altar, in San Giovanni Rotondo, the sacrifice of Christ himself, the bloodless sacrifice, was taking place, and at the same time, the bloody wounds on the hands me think of the whole sacrifice, of Jesus Crucified. This event stayed with me as an unforgettable experience. This memory lasts until today and somehow, today I have before my eyes what I myself saw then.”[6]

Oscar De Liso on 1961: “In the Mass as Padre Pio goes into ecstasy, he becomes a spectacle of agony. His eyes are shut, his face contorted in pain, his lips trembling, his cheeks wet with tears. His ecstasy lasts long, while he relieves the Passion of the Cross. For several minutes he leans on the altar and weeps, standing perfectly still in mystical transport. The expression of his face is that of a nomad of the beyond.”[7]

Luigi Peroni: “On the altar, in Padre Pio’s flesh the whole Passion is lived again: the agony, scourging, thorns, crucifixion, and the piercing of the chest with a lance.”[9]

Padre Pio: "At the Calvary, there where screams, blasphemies, loud clamor, and threats... that was really uproar."[10]

“Mons. Paolo Carta, archbishop of Sassari 1962-1982 : “At the altar one had the impression that space and time had been cancelled between the altar and the Hill of Calvary.”[11] [12]

Padre Domenico Mondrone: “Anyone who has attended Padre Pio’s Mass, has seen the distance between the altar and the Calvary annihilated.”[13]

Nino Salvaneschi: “During Mass Padre Pio seemed to belong to a humanity that was superior to ours.”[14]

Padre Clemente Naef noted that after the consecration his head jerked sharply from time to time “as though he had been struck in the face”.[15]

Padre Giovanni da Baggio: “Certain nervous twitching’s of his face, certain glances upward, certain movements of his head as he was chasing away something vexatious, suggested deep suffering and great efforts to keep him from being caught up into ecstasy.”[16] [17]

Padre Francesco Napolitano: “As soon as the doors of the church opened there was a terrible commotion to get to the altar were Padre Pio was to celebrate. Then, as soon as Padre Pio was in the doorway a veil of silence fell, creating an air of heavenly sensation.”[18]

Padre Alessio: “As he walked towards the altar with great difficulty, he recited the Miserere psalm with deep compunction and humility.” [19]

Padre Luigi in 1921: Padre Pio celebrated Mass, after hearing confessions for a very long time, around 11:30 AM. This Mass was considered a solemn one. The Mass was always accompanied by the organ. Now only on Sunday the Mass is chanted.[20] The Mass he now celebrates at 10:00 AM, is the Conventual.[21]

Padre Innocenzo: “I was assistant to Padre Pio in 1951-3. His alarm clock was always set for 2:30 AM. Each morning went to his cell to accompany him down to the sacristy. I always found him ready and waiting for me, with the beads hidden in his hand while he recited the Rosary.”[22]

Alberto Del Fante: “In the Mass Padre Pio reenacts the Passion, becoming a living sacrificial victim.” [23]

John McCaffery: “When the Mass reached the Consecration one felt that truly this was the center of the Universe.” [24]

Wanda Poltawska: "The Mass Lasted a long time but the people who filled the church were completely still, transfixed by the Eucharist made real to them by this extraordinary man.”[25]

Padre Pio celebrating at the altar of St. Francis. To this relates the following observation by Padre Joseph Pius.

Padre Joseph Pius:“The wounds were in the center of the palm, and the coagulated blood covered the whole hand. The blood was always running out of the holes. It is true that if you were very close and there was a light behind his hand you could see a light shining through the holes. Mrs. Emilia Sanguinetti, said that when Padre Pio celebrated Mass and held up his hands to bless people, she would see the light through his hands. " (Sch87, 62-3)

Bill Carrigan: “As he began the consecration he seemed to be in great pain, shifting his weight from side to side, hesitating to begin the words of consecration which he would start and repeat, and biting them off with a clicking of his teeth as if in great pain. His cheek muscles twitched and tears were visible on his cheeks. He reached for the chalice and jerked back his hand violently, as it the pain was so great he couldn’t grasp it. After the Consecration he seemed exhausted and leaned forward as in deep meditation.”[26]

William Carrigan, of the 15th Air Force, assigned at Christmas time 1943 to the American Red Cross Field Office in Foggia.

Father John D. Saint John: “During the Mass he seemed to be in ecstasy. At the Consecration, holding the Host up, he seemed to be out of this world. He seemed not to know where he was. His eyes were aglow.”[27]

Ray Nunten: “When Padre Pio says Mass he seems to be transfigured into a celestial being. You can see him twisting and moving about in agony, and tears roll down his cheeks. When he offers up the Host, he doesn’t look directly at the Host, but just over it, into the air; and the look of his earthly face is not of this world.”Reg05, 175

Joe Peterson: “His eye where fixed in a particular spot. He would speak although you couldn’t hear him. You would see his lips moving. He seemed to be in conversation with invisible beings.”[28]

In 1943 Joe Peterson was an American GI stationed in Bari at the military post office.

"It would be easier for the earth to carry on without the sun than without the Mass."[29] [30]

“The benefits of Mass cannot be enumerated. We will see them in Paradise.”[32]

“I’d never leave the altar. I’d like to celebrate sixty Masses a day.”[33]

"If people knew the value of the Mass, there would be policemen at the door, to regulate the access to the church, every time that a Mass is celebrated".[34]

Padre Francesco Napolitano: “Padre Pio’s entire priestly life was contained between two most brilliant lights: the altar and the confessional.[36]

To a priest: “What a dreadful thing is to sit in the tribunal of confession, were we dispense the blood of Christ! Take care not to throw it away too easily.”[37]

Francesco Napolitano: “Padre Pio was a most severe confessor. Everyone trembled before him.”[38]

After a day of confessions: "Oh the souls! If you knew how much they cost!"^{^[39]}

John Paul II in the Canonization of Padre Pio Mass: “He was a generous dispense of divine mercy especially through the sacrament of penance.”[40]

Pius XII: “The greatest sin is that men have started to lose the sense of sin.”[42]

Paul VI: “Once human mind has separated from the divine wisdom the concept of sin has been lost.”[43]

Padre Pio: “I should prefer death rather that offending God.” “I would prefer martyrdom rather than offending God even in a single instance.”[41]

Padre Pio frequently heard confessions for fifteen hours a day, sometimes even for nineteen hours. He was a martyr to this duty, a martyr to the sacrament of mercy.[45]

From 1918 until about 1923 Padre Pio heard confessions fifteen to nineteen hours a day.[46]

Padre Pio in the confessional went straight to the point: Christ crucified.^{^[48]}

From 1918 to 1923 he heard confessions fifteen to nineteen hours a day. During the 40's and 50's, about eight hours a day. In 1962, 83.035 women and 19.837 men registered for confession with Padre Pio: an average of about 273 per day. In 1967 Padre Pio confessed about 15.000 women and 10.000 men. That’s an average of 70 people per day. For the women there was a confessional. The men confessed in the old sacristy.

The average confession made to Padre Pio lasted only three minutes. Padre Pio heard a total of about five million confessions. Padre Pio demanded that each confession be a true conversion. No excuses, no insincerity, but frankness, honesty, firm resolution.

It was like being before the judgment of God. Padre Pio had strong views on female fashions in dress. A sign read: "By Padre Pio’s explicit wish, women must enter his confessional wearing skirts at least eight inches below the knees. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them for the confessional.”

At the confessional: “Get away. In agreement with your wife you have aborted three times!”^{^[49]}

Padre Pio: “Do you go to Mass?” Reply: “I have missed Mass ten or twenty times.” Padre Pio: “After ten comes eleven. Go away.”^{^[50]}

A person was confessing bad thoughts against chastity. “How many times?” “Six or seven.” “Seven is not the same as six. It means one more deadly sin.” The person was sent away.^{^[51]}

One woman who came on a long trip to see Padre Pio said to him in confession, “Padre Pio, four years ago I lost my husband and I haven’t gone to church since then.” Padre Pio replied: “Because you lost your husband, you also lost God? Go away! Go away!”

Brusque manners were used at times by Padre Pio to shake up and bring repentance, to keep away the curious and the fanatics. There was always a reason for his roughness. People actually snipped bits off his habit with nail scissors when they knelt in the corridor as he was passing. "Go away. What are you her for? What do you want from me? They cut my cord and habit with scissors. This is paganism. This is fanaticism."^{^[52]} "I'm forced to be rude. I am sorry, but if I don't act this way, they will kill me." ^{^[53]}

Padre Tarcisio asked why he was so strict with some people. “My son, before making people suffer, I suffer a lot myself. But it’s necessary, because my job is to remove the old and put in the new.”^{^[54]}

Padre Pio wanted to bring lost souls back to God as soon as possible: "I can hit my children. I want to bring them up fast, even with blows".^{^[55]}

Padre Pellegrino: “For him every confession had to be a sign of conversion.”^{^[57]}

Padre Pio wanted to bring lost souls back to God as soon as possible: "I can hit my children. I want to bring them up fast, even with blows".[58]

Padre Marcellino: “Padre Pio found himself trapped between compassion and duty.”^{^[59]} “Padre Pio’s interventions seemed at times insensitive and a bit rude. They were part of a long mysterious selection and preparation, reserved especially to those souls who would have become part of his big family.”^{^[60]}

Some friars asked Padre Pio: “When you don’t give absolution, those souls come to us. What should we do?” Padre Pio: “You must give absolution. There is only one Padre Pio.”^{^[61]} To Padre Pellegrino: “When I don’t give absolution, it is to me that I don’t give it.”^{^[62]}

To Padre Carmelo, superior of the convent: "I'm only superficially upset. But my heart is always calm and serene".^{^[63]} “I act in such a way, because my heart of father wants to recall souls to penance. I can’t bear that they remain in sin.”^{^[64]} “I treat people the way they deserve before God.”^{^[65]} “To rouse certain souls you need cannonballs. Treating them with gentleness is a waste of time.”^{^[66]}

Padre Pio: "Sometimes words must be a little angry externally, however, serenity never leaves me."^{^[67]} “It is better to be reprimanded by a man in this world than by God in the next.”^{^[68]} "Do as I do. If I have an outburst, internally I am always serene."^{^[69]} [70]

Padre Pio: “After I give the absolution I accompany all my penitents as I was their shadow.”[71] “It is for the souls that I feel the pain of this trial.”[72] “I always keep my promises. Whatever I start, I finish it.”[73] To an unrepented: “Well, if you want to go to hell, I don’t. You want to pull me there too.”^{^[74]} "Before reproaching a soul, I suffer it first. But it is not I who act, but He who is in me and above me."^{^[75]} "The mercy of God, my son, is infinitely greater than your malice.”^{^[76]} “I don’t condemn dancing as such, but I believe there is always the danger of sin.” ^{^[77]} “If I reproach someone, it is for the benefit of their soul.”^{^[78]} “I don’t give a candy to someone who needs a purgative.”[79]

Padre Pio: “Never say to God: I have sinned and deserve your punishment. Rather say: I have sinned but me merciful to me.”^{^[81]}

"Do not dwell on sins that have been already confessed. Jesus has forgiven them."^{^[82]}

“It is difficult that a soul not persistently evil is damned, because God at the moment of death asks: Do you want me? Those who want to go to hell go there.”^{^[83]}

"Before reproaching a soul, I suffer it first. But it is not I who act, but He who is in me and above me."[85]

Francesco Napolitano: “Padre Pio never compromised with evil, no matter who the

“Well, if you want to go to hell, I don’t. You want to pull me there too.”[88]

“Never say to God: I have sinned and deserve your punishment. Rather say: I have sinned but me merciful to me.”[89]

“It is difficult that a soul not persistently evil is damned, because God at the moment of death asks: Do you want me? Those who want to go to hell go there.”[90]

"Do not dwell on sins that have been already confessed. Jesus has forgiven them."[91]

“As long as you are afraid to fall, you will not sin. You should be afraid when you are not afraid anymore.”[92] [93] [94]

Once Padre Pio lamented with Padre Gabriele Bove: “There is not one who has asked to be helped to become a saint.”^{^[95]}

Virtues

To John McCaffery: ”God made all things. His creation includes the stars and the humblest domestic utensil. I belong to the second category.”^{^[96]}

'You have respect for me because you don't know me. I am the greatest sinner on this heart."[97] [98]

“Humility and charity go hand in hand. The one glorifies, the other sanctifies.”[100]

Padre Romolo: “As far as chastity is concerned, his tact is extraordinary: as to this, nobody doubts he is an angel.”[103]

Padre Alberto: “In the little conferences he gave us seminarians he used to say: “Everything comes down to purity. Purity says it all.”[104]

Mons. Pogany: “Sometimes I was Padre Pio’s confessor. I don’t believe that he ever committed sin, not even a venial one. No, I don’t think so. I heard his confession.”[106]

Mons. George Pogany lived near the convent from 1940 until 1957. He helped Padre Pio and the friars, confessing, saying Mass, bringing Communion to bedridden people, and translating. He moved to the USA in 1957, and was a pastor in Irvington, New Jersey, for decades.

Padre Agostino: ”I could swear that Padre Pio has kept his virginity, and never committed a venial sin against the angelic virtue. On day he told me: “I swear that I have never kissed; not even my mother.”[107]

Padre Agostino stayed in touch with Padre Pio from 1907 until 1967. He was his spiritual director. He kept a “Diary” about his experience.

When he was a middle aged man, Padre Pio told another priest: “When I was a teen ager, I didn’t even know how human beings came about. None of the teenagers in Pietrelcina knew anything about sex in those days.”[108]

While Padre Pio was passing, a woman screamed: “Padre touch me! Padre touch me.” Padre Pio continued walking, mumbling to himself: “I’ve never touched a woman in my life, and I’m, not going to start now!”[109]

“Guard jealously the purity of your heart and of your body. These two wings will make us almost divine."[110]

To a priest: “Lust is shortest and the easiest way to go to Hell. You know this and you say it to others. Try to practice what you preach.”[111]

To a priest: “Impurity is the rock against which many vocations are shattered.” [112]

To a priest: “Souls are not given to us as gifts; they must be purchased; they must be paid for. Don’t forget how dearly they cost to Jesus.”[113]

Padre Pio: “The enemy tries to put in my heart thoughts of impurity and desperation”.[114]

Padre Lodovico: ““Whit the women he shows politeness, reserve, and at times has even been austere.”[115] He treats all women with kindness and sweetness, but is much reserved. The women that frequent him carry in an exemplary and extremely devout life.[116] I admire his composure and his unfeigned piety.[117]

Padre Cherubino: “He treats the women with affability and sweetness, but is always most reserved.”[118]

To William Carrigan: "Hypocrisy is the greatest evil of our time. It exists in all levels of our society, in high places and in low places."^{^[119]}

“In every man there is Jesus, but in the sick we can see Jesus twice.”^{^[120]}

Padre Pio frequently said about the revelations he received: “A king’s secret should be kept secret.” (Tob.12:7)[121]

Defects

Padre Lorenzo: “When he is summoned to see visitors, he once in a while reacts with irritation, although he immediately acknowledges it.”[122] Padre Lorenzo: In the words of the Consecration I think he might have some scruples. I heard some words being repeated.[123]

Mons. Rossi to the Holy Office: “He has his own liturgical flaws. He doesn’t bow his head at the name of the Holy Father in the Collect. He doesn’t open and close his hands at the Oremus. He doesn’t incline towards the Crucifix at the Per Dominum Nostrum Jesum Christum. When turning the pages of the missale he keeps the other hand up in the air. He doesn’t bow perfectly towards the altar at the “Munda” and at “Te Igitur”. He is not entirely precise in the ceremonies of Communion.”[124]

Mons. Rossi did a formal inspection of Padre Pio’s room in 1921, and wrote: “He doesn’t seem as tidy in the way he takes care of his things. In his cell, the various drawers are somewhat disordered: sheets of paper, gloves, quinine, candies for the boys, images, everything rather muddled.”[125]

Mons. Rossi: Sometimes escape him interjections such as “per Bacco” (by Jove), my God, my Jesus, in the middle of an animated conversation.[126]

To Padre Benedetto: "I sometimes raise my voice when correcting people. I realize that this is a shameful weakness. I regret it."^{^[128]}

Brusque manners were used at times by Padre Pio to shake up and bring repentance, to keep away the curious and the fanatics. There was always a reason for his roughness. People actually snipped bits off his habit with nail scissors when they knelt in the corridor as he was passing. "Go away. What are you her for? What do you want from me? They cut my cord and habit with scissors. This is paganism. This is fanaticism."[129] "I'm forced to be rude. I am sorry, but if I don't act this way, they will kill me." ^{^[130]}

Quotes

"I suffer as much as anyone who has the whole of humanity on his back."^{^[139]}

“I am only sure of one thing: that my heart loves a lot; it’s made to love.”^{^[141]}

“I live only to serve the Heavenly Father: I don’t live for myself: only for Him.”^{^[142]}

“I am the torment of souls. I am a devouring fire, burning everything inside me.”^{^[143]}

“I belong entirely to everyone. Because of it I suffer immensely for everyone.” ^{^[145]}

"I have made a pact with the Lord: I will take my place at the gate to Paradise, but I shall not enter until I have seen the last of my spiritual children enter."^{^[146]} ^{^[147]} ^{^[148]}

“I can forget myself, but not my children; I tell you that when the Lord will call me, I will stay at the door of paradise and I will tell Him: ‘Lord, I do not enter before I see that all my children have entered.” Cleonice Morcaldi asked Padre Pio: “Did you really say that? “ Padre Pio: “I made this proposal to the Lord. I don’t know if He accepts it.”^{^[149]} "Among you I am your brother, on the Altar I am your victim, in the confessional I am your judge."^{^[150]}

“The Lord has chosen me, despite my faults, to help Him in the great endeavor of saving humanity.”^{^[151]} “The Lord gave me a great mission that is known only to Him and me.”^{^[152]} “Many secrets of my life will only be revealed up there.”^{^[153]} “My mission is that of saving souls.”^{^[154]} "My true mission will begin after my death."^{^[155]} ^{^[156]} “One day men will doubt that I existed.”[157] “The Lord from my birth showed me signs of a very special predilection.”^{^[158]} March 25, 1914 to Padre Benedetto: “My soul, enriched by so much knowledge of celestial things should be more talkative; yet it became almost mute.”[159]

“Every single person can say: Padre Pio is all mine.”^{^[160]} “When a soul approaches me, I take it. When I have taken a soul I never let it go.”^{^[161]} “If a soul slips from me and goes away, I pray and suffer for her return, and when she has returned I retake her, and don’t let her run away again.”^{^[162]} "If one of my spiritual children ever goes astray I shall leave my flock and seek him out."^{^[163]} “It is true I make my penitents sweat blood. But I also add my own blood.”^{^[164]} "I love my spiritual children as much as my own soul and even more."^{^[165]} “I can hit my children. I want to bring them up fast with blows, but woe that lay a hand on them.”^{^[166]} “How come at times you are a bit harsh?” Padre Pio: “To destroy the old and insert the new.”^{^[167]} “I work to give my children the heritage.”^{^[168]} “When I have lifted a soul, I don’t let it fall down again.”^{^[169]} "When the Lord entrusts a soul to me, I place it on my shoulder and never let it go."^{^[170]}

"God is always fixed in my mind and imprinted in my heart."^{^[171]} “Implore the Lord to increase two things in us: love and fear.”^{^[172]} "Always remember that God sees everything."^{^[173]} "Time spent for the glory of God is never wasted."^{^[174]} "If God would take back what he gave us, we would be left with our rags."^{^[175]} "God will always give us more than we deserve."^{^[176]} "To doubt is the greatest insult to the Divinity."^{^[177]}

“The Lord loves you more than you love yourself.”^{^[178]} "Before going to sleep examine your conscience and turn your thoughts to God."^{^[179]} “God enriches the soul that divests itself of everything.”^{^[180]} “Do not start any activity without first addressing it to God.”^{^[181]} “Never begin any task without first imploring divine help.”^{^[182]} "One day the slightest transgression of God's law will be considered."^{^[183]}

"When I am in heaven I will be able to do more".^{^[184]} “Heaven is total joy, continuous joy. “^{^[185]} “It is useless to try to figure out exactly what Heaven is like, because we can’t understand it. But when the veil of this life is taken off, we will understand things in a different way.”^{^[186]} “The kingdom of Heaven is reached by prayer and suffering.”^{^[187]}

From a letter to Padre Agostino on 10-14-12; "At night, when I close my eyes the veil is lowered and I see the Paradise opening before me; and delighted by this vision I sleep with a smile of sweet beatitude on my lips, and in a perfect calm I wait that the little companion of my infancy wakes me up."^{^[188]}

“Padre, I don't believe in God.” Padre Pio: "But God believes in you."^{^[189]} ^{^[190]}

Padre Michele Piacentino saw a young fellow approaching Padre Pio in the sacristy. He said to Padre Pio: “Padre, I don't believe in God.” Padre Pio replied: “Why are you telling me? Tell Him!"^{^[191]}

"Love doesn't tolerate delay."[192] "Life is a continual struggle against oneself."[193]

“Life is a struggle, which we cannot avoid. We must triumph."[194] "Don't philosophize on your defects."[195] "Fear is an evil worse than evil itself."[196] “I love everybody, even if there is always a small difference.”[197] "He who begins to love must be ready to suffer."^{^[198]} “Suffering is my daily bread; my delight.”^{^[199]} Padre Francesco Napolitano: “Padre Pio’s suffering was permeated with radiant joy, because by means of it, he could lead souls to Christ.”^{^[200]}

“Everybody should understand the preciosity of time. Let’s treasure every instant. Only the passing instant is in our power. One day we will have to give strict account of every minute.”[201] ” Do not delay for tomorrow what we can do today. How do we know that tomorrow we will still be alive?”[202]

Padre Pio about egocentrism, when we say I am, I did, I have, and so on: “I, I, I. Always I in place of God!” (“Io, Io, Io. Sempre io al posto di Dio.” )^{^[203]}

“If it’s appropriate to practice patience towards other, it is also convenient to practice it towards ourselves.”[204] “Be patient in tolerating yourself.”[205] “Wait, your turn will come."[206] [207]

“Nosiness is a defect that destroys charity, makes us lose peace, and has sad consequences. As the Apostle Paul said: “I resolve to know nothing except Jesus Christ, and He crucified.” (cfr.1 Cor. 2:2) [208]

To William Carrigan: "Hypocrisy is the greatest evil of our time. It exists in all levels of our society, in high places and in low places."[209]

“I don’t condemn dancing as such, but I believe there is always the danger of sin.” [216]

About going dressed about in a dignified way: “If I wore a torn habit I wouldn’t make a good impression of St. Francis.”[217]

“Yes, the coincidences are coincidences. But there is Somebody up there who arranges those coincidences.”

"I wholeheartedly bless the work of catechizing children, the little flowers of Jesus."[218]

Prayer

Padre Pio’s favorite: "My past, Oh Lord, to your mercy; my present, to your love; my future, to your providence!"^{^[220]} ^{^[221]}

Padre Lodovico: “He has the appearance of a profound mystic.”[222] “He protracts his prayer. One tires of waiting for him, especially when he is meditating.”[223]

"Pray, hope, don't get agitated. Agitation doesn't help at all. God is merciful and will listen to your prayer."[224] ("Prega, spera, non agitarti. L'agitazione non giova a nulla. Dio e' misericordioso ed ascoltera' la tua preghiera.")

“The more you get agitate, the sooner the Providence will withdraw its arms from you." "Anxiety makes us run only to make us trip." "Agitation never comes from God.”[225]

"Prayer is the key that opens the heart of God."[226] "We seek God in books, but it is in prayer that we find Him."[227] [228] "Prayer must be persistent. Persistence denotes faith."[229] "Prayer is the best weapon we possess."[230] [231]

“The Lord presents to me people that I have never met with the purpose of interceding for them. In such case, it never happens that my prayers are unanswered. Afterwards I forget totally about them.” [235]

When you leave us what are we going to do without you? "I will be here in your midst, more than before. Come visit my tomb. Before, in order to speak to me, you had to wait. Then, it is I who will be waiting there. Come to my tomb and you will receive more than you did before!"[236]

Padre Lodovico: “He tries to conceal his suffering with special industry and ingenuity.”[238]

"Jesus doesn't ask you to carry the heavy Cross with Him; just a small piece."[239]

Asked by Mons. Rossi if he did penitential practice, Padre Pio said: “I don’t do penitential practices. I take the ones the Lord sends. I have been forbidden penitential practices, on account of my poor health.”[240]

“What kind of heaven would be if we didn’t have with us those whom we love?”[241]

Mary

Padre Pio would call Mary in many different ways. Some of them: Maria, Madonna, Mamma, Mammina, Madre, Madonnina, Madonnella, Signora, Vergine Maria, Madre Maria, Diletta Madre, Tenera Madre, Madre mia cara, Celeste Madre, Madre di Misericordia, Bianca Signora, Maria Santissima, Mamma mia, Madre Immacolata, Santissima Vergine, Cara Madre, Mamma dolcissima, Madonna Mia, Mamma nostra, Dolce Signora, Vergine Santa, Madonna delle Grazie. [243]

To a woman who had asked for prayers to be healed. "Let's pray the Madonna of Graces. She will heal you." When the woman returned to tank: "Mary healed you, not me."[244]

Padre Pio wrote on August 15, 1929, feast of the Assumption: “This morning I approached the altar with physical pains and internal anguish. I felt like dying. I was permeated by a deadly sadness. At the moment of consuming the Sacred Host I saw clearly the Heavenly Mother with Baby Jesus in her arms. They both told me: “Calm down! We are here with you. You belong to us and we are yours.” From that moment I felt drowned in an indescribable sea of sweetness and love.”[246]

Padre Pio wrote that since 1912 he had prayed “novenas after novenas” to the Madonna di Pompei “for more than three years” to obtain the grace to return in convent. He was able to return and stay in convent in 1916.[247]

Padre Pio described one day to Padre Rosario di Aliminusa in every detail the sanctuary of Lourdes. He had never been there. Padre Rosario said: “You must have seen it in a dream!” What dream! I was not sleeping. I was awake!”[248]

To Padre Onorato who was going in pilgrimage to Lourdes: "I have been to Lourdes many times. You don't need a car or a train, there are other means too."^{^[249]}

To Padre Alessio: “I don’t have to go to Lourdes. I go there every night. I see Our Lady of Lourdes every night.”^{^[250]}

Padre Agostino was in Padre Pio’s room, when Padre Pio asked: “Don’t you see the Madonna?” To Agostino’s negative answer Padre Pio replied: “You deny it for holy humility!”[251] [252]

Padre Onorato asked Padre Pio if he saw the Madonna. Padre Pio replied: “She comes to me whenever I need her.”[253]

“There are people so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Madonna.”^{^[254]}

One evening Dr. Kisvarday was talking with Padre Pio in his cell when the light went off. He got up to get a candle. "Where are you going? There is so much light. We don't need a candle. Don't you see the Madonna lighting up the cell?" Dr. Kisvarday: “I didn't see the Madonna, I saw only pitch dark.”

On several occasions Padre Pio confided to his intimates that the Blessed Virgin remained beside him while he heard confessions.[255]

Sitting in the armchair, few minutes before dying Padre Pio said: “I see two mothers.” His mom had died many years earlier. He was seeing the Virgin Mary and Mamma Peppa his birth mother together.[256]

Rosary

Padre Fernando da Riese: “The Rosary was Padre Pio’s favored prayer. He prayed it many times a day, decade after decade. He had always a rosary wrapped around his hand or arm, as it was a jewel or a shield. He had other rosaries under the pillow and on the nightstand. He called the rosary his “weapon”. He had made a resolution years earlier to say “daily no less than five complete rosaries.”” [258]

Padre Domenico Mondrone: “Padre Pio honored the Madonna every day praying a countless number of rosaries.”[259]

To Padre Onorato Marcucci, grabbing the Rosary that he had put few seconds on the nightstand: "This s my weapon. With this, one wins the battles."[261]

Padre Marcellino testified that he had to help Padre Pio wash his hands one at a time "because he didn't want to leave the rosary beads, and passed the Rosary from one hand to the other."

February 6, 1954 9:00 PM, to father Carmelo: "I still have 2 rosaries to pray today. I said only 34 so far. Then I will go to bed."[262]

Answering to Padre Michelangelo: "Today I said 32 or 33 rosaries. Maybe 1 or 2 more."

Answering to Padre Mariano da Magliano Santa Croce: "About 30. Maybe some more, but not less." 'How do you do it? "What is the night for?"

Answering a question: "Some days I say 40 Rosaries, some other days 50." How do I do it? "How do you manage not so say any?"

To Lucia Pennelli one morning around 7:00 AM after Mass: "How many rosaries did you say so far today?" 'Two". "I already said seven."

To Lucietta Pennelli, one day at about noon: "Today I have already said 16 complete Rosaries."

Padre Alessio Parente asked Padre Pio why he would constantly say the rosary and no other prayers. Padre Pio: “Because the Madonna never refuses me anything that I ask through the prayer of the rosary.”

Catholic Church

Padre Marcellino: “By his example Padre Pio invited every priest to place on high Eucharist, Confession, and obedience to the Church.”^{^[263]}

Rev. Bernard Ruffin: “Padre Pio is certainly one of the Roman Catholic Church best “advertisements””[264]

Padre Pio suffered false sexual accusations and misunderstandings throughout his life, by even the highest Church authorities.^{^[265]}

Padre Pio never held animosity towards people that falsely accused him.^{^[266]}

"The thought of revenge has never crossed my mind. At most sometimes I told the Lord that if it is necessary a lashing to convert them, to go ahead, as long as they are saved.”[267]

“The hand of the Church is gentle even when it strikes us, for it is always our mother’s hand.”[271]

“The severity of the Church is always necessary in order to clarify our ideas. Otherwise there would be chaos.”[272]

“I would give my life a thousand times for the Pope and for the Church.”[273]

Francesco Morcaldi: “Padre Pio was completely submitted to all the Church’s orders with an humility that belongs only to the saints.”[274]

Padre Pio told Prof. Enrico Medi who was going to the Vatican to see Pope Pius XII: “Tell the Pope that I offer with immense joy my life for him. Tell him that I pray constantly [275]

Enrico Medi: “Padre Pio had a complete allegiance to the Church. When the Church asked him not to celebrate Mass in public, he did not celebrate in public. When the Church asked him for solitary silence, he went in solitary silence. When the Church asked him to talk, hi talked; to pray, he prayed; to celebrate, he celebrated; to disappear, he disappeared.”[276]

Padre Ferdinando da Riese: “Padre Pio was not a preacher. Never the less his obedience and allegiance to the Church have been his longest sermon, and the most convincing.”[277]

The Ecumenical Council Vatican II opened on October 11, 1962. It was closed on December 8, 1965.During the Council several bishops went to the convent and visited with Padre Pio.