Research Paper on Background and Identity of Saint Padre Pio

Thesis statement: Padre Pio was a humble, enduring and prayerful man, who through his charisma and character pulled multitudes towards him, and hence towards the Kingdom of God. It is his extraordinary personality that has then made him one of the most celebrated Catholic priests, a canonized saint, a brother that was light for siblings the rest of his family and a pilgrim for all those who found themselves in similar or worse situations.

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Introduction

The quality of life depends neither on the duration of stay nor on the materialistic endowment but preferably on the impact and mark left after the life is over. In one of his addresses aimed at the young generation, a Catholic pope, Francis emphasized the need to make an impact on the societies, communities, and nations that these individuals coexisted within, and he stressed that the core reason for the existence of human beings is "to leave a mark." St. Padre Pio was one of the many personalities whose lives acted as a scale through and against which society was gauged. Padre Pio was born in Italy to Grazio and Giuseppe Forgione on May 25, 1887, as Francesco Forgione. They lived in a small farming town of Pietrelchina, a home that was a humble beginning for his incredible deeds later in his life. Saint Padre Pio illuminated a sense of Godliness and holiness from a young age, and he often exhibited religious characteristics. His familial background also did him a great favor since, even though his parents were peasant farmers, and materially disfavored, they were unquestionably rich in faith and the knowledge of God. Following Jesus' steps, Padre Pio took every burden, temptation, and suffering from utmost humility, endurance, and dignity. Padre Pio was a humble, enduring and prayerful man, who through his charisma and character pulled multitudes towards him, and hence towards the Kingdom of God. It is his extraordinary personality that has then made him one of the most celebrated Catholic priests, a canonized saint, a brother that was light for siblings the rest of his family and a pilgrim for all those who found themselves in similar or worse situations.

One of the many things tied to the existence and commemoration of Saint Pedro Pio was his prayerful being. It was practically impossible to separate him from this constant connection that he had formed with the almighty God. Such a testimony often came out of his mother's mouth who described him as a quiet child who loved to go to church and pray. He maintained constant communication with God, and he often had encounters with, not only his guardian angel but also Jesus and the Virgin Mary through his supernatural visions. To Pedro, he had consecrated his life since the time he came to the world. Pedro Pio regarded prayers as the most potent weapons against evil as he stated "Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God's heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact, on certain occasions, you should only speak to Him with your heart." Francesco Forgione was the fifth child out of eight. At the age of five, he dedicated his life to God and was later admitted to the novitiate of the Capuchin order of the friars minor in Morcone, Italy at fifteen. He had served in his church as an altar boy, loved to play in his church and sing hymns. Pedro also adored his alone and silent moments where he could amply and silently communicate to his supernatural being. During the morning periods of mental prayers, Pedro Pio stood out among his peers due to his tearful prayers and contemplations. These prayers were meant for the meditation of passion, and Pedro could cry to the extent that a towel had to be spread in front of him on the floor of the choir. His devotion and extraordinary spirituality were evident from his early ages, and he used to experience supernatural visions that recurred. To Pedro, this was not as divine as they ought to be, as he could dismiss them as an experience that everyone else had. As an individual who always walked in the light of the Lord, so did the light walk with him and the dark against him. For this reason, Pedro often spoke of instances where he encountered the Lord Jesus, and his guardian angel, Madonna, and likewise, heated fights and repulsions from the devil. Through his prayers and devotion, Pedro, in many instances acted as a bridge between those he served on earth, and the one he served up above, and one way to do this was through his suffering and empathy.

Just as Jesus Christ had suffered to get to the glory of God, so did Pedro Pio. Pedro believed that it was only in suffering that the real value of Christianity could be achieved. His humble background prepared him for the hardships he was yet to face in his Christian journey, and whatever challenge or suffering he went through, it only made him stronger. In one instant as a young boy, he opted to spend his night on a cold stone-filled floor to get to feel the pain and suffering others in such situations felt. Pedro viewed suffering as a proof of his commitment to God, and a sign of the inevitable defeat of evil. He once said, "Have courage and do not fear the assaults of the Devil. Remember this forever; it is a healthy sign if the devil shouts and roars around your conscience since this shows that he is not inside your will." Every episode of hardship and suffering only proved him greater than the problems he faced, and more so, greater than the devil. However, every hoop he jumped presented more barriers ahead.

While still in the track of the path leading to glory, Pedro faced more and more agony, to the point of sharing in the pain of Jesus Christ through the stigmata. At the age of twenty-three, on the 10th of August 1910, Pedro was ordained to the priesthood at the cathedral of Benevento by Archbishop Paolo Schinosi. He celebrated his Mass four days later. Even amidst his fellow priests, Pedro still stood out as a calm and collected individual, and due to his thoughtful pauses, his Mass lasted for several hours. His first Mass was once described as an incomprehensible mystery. While in the service of the work of God, Pedro wrote to his spiritual director, father Benedetto Nardello, requesting to be made a victim for sinners. This is the very phenomenon that Jesus Christ went through by offering himself as a sacrificial lamb for the salvation of humankind. Shortly afterward, while performing his religious duties on the 20th of September, Pedro experienced the stigmata, where his body bore the marks of the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. For fifty years, which is from the time he was thirty-one, he bled on his feet, hands, and side, and lost almost a pint of blood. His wounds were often described as miraculous and unexplainable, and unlike common injuries that could get infected or produce the foul smell, his retained the status quo of the time they appeared, and they produced a scent similar to that of violets and roses. Through all his sufferings and pain, Pedro, like Job from the Bible, maintained his adoration and worship to his God, and he even declared and accepted that his suffering was purposeful. Other than the stigmata, Pedro also suffered from other physical illnesses, among them arthritis, but he often confessed that his physical suffering was no match for the spiritual warfare that was happening within him. Through his perseverance, Pedro no doubt saw Jesus Christ. Pedro could never have been the incredible man he was without a home to ground himself.

The smallest yet functional unit of the church is the home, and to this Pedro learned everything that he later came to be from his humble familial background. As mentioned earlier, Pedro was the fourth child out of eight. His siblings were three younger sisters, an older brother, and three others who had passed on in infancy. Even though he was not the most senior of them all, he still managed to live exemplarily and acted as a role model for them to follow or emulate. His obedience to his parents later reflected on his obedience to the command of God, as well as those of his spiritual leaders. It is this very home that equipped him the virtues of life and enabled him to stand a firm ground on his principles and beliefs.

Even with his respect to the heavenly and earthly authority, Pedro still maintained his autonomy, and hence incorporated his conscience and free will in his decisions. His submissiveness and devotion to the church were never isolated since he also could not stand to see deviations that could be baneful to the church, even when backed up by spiritual authorities. An instance of such autonomy is when the church had passed a rite, the ad experimentum, a ritual devised by a conciliar liturgical to respond to the needs of modern man. Pedro was the living example of the grounds that human beings needed to stand as with the ever-changing world.

Padre Pio consistently worked towards purity and righteousness and was hence a radar through which the spiritual maturity and progress of his congregation were measured against. Pedro took every bit of the Holy Mass, as well as the other religious services to God as paramount and crucial, but he paid particular attention to the confession of sins. In an estimation, he made around five million confessions during his service as a priest, and while conducting them, demanded a conversion out of the confessions. Pedro had a five-point rule that he gave to the souls he directed, among them the daily communion, spiritual reading, mental prayers twice a day, the examination if the conscience and the weekly confession. The recitation of the rosary was a necessity. He compared the souls of his congregation to an unoccupied room which, even though vacant, still gathered dust. He, therefore, emphasized the need to continually confess of the sins one was willingly and unwillingly involved with, and also advocated for the examination of ones' conscience, just as a merchant had to keep records of his day's sells even though he was quite aware of what he had sold. Throughout his service of the church, Pedro maintained a personality that was extraordinary. He was harsh where harshness was the appropriate amount of force that was required to save a soul, polite when the soul involved was delicate, friendly when he saw his congregation striving towards righteousness, and hostile when they strayed from their path. His personality reflected every situation he was in and brought the best out of his services to humanity and God.

Saint Pedro Pio was a humble servant of God who carried himself with utmost humility and acknowledged that he was but a servant, not a master. It is his humility that made him offer himself for the atonement, his spirit for the tortures of the earth, and all this so that he could be of service to his course. The stigmata had accrued him a particular spotlight in the spiritual as well as the secular world, and millions of individuals opted to attend his Mass celebrations to see the wounds first hand. This kind of fame was gradually proving unnecessary and uncomfortable to him. For this reason, the church took it upon themselves to limit the contact between the priest and his congregation...