St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

He was born on May 25, 1887, and his real name is Francesco Forgione. He starts serving as an altar boy at the age of 5 in their local parish.

He gets his name Pio or Pius when he entered the Capuchin Friars Minor as a novice at age of 15.

Finally, he was ordained as a priest in 1910 and assigned to the various area until 1916, when he resided in San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy and spend the remainder of his life on the city.

 His Mass could sometimes last several hour because for Padre Pio the Holy Mass is the center of spirituality. When he was asked to shorten his Mass by his superior, He replied, “God knows that I want to say in Mass just like any other priest, but I cannot do it.”

One of the famous quote that he said was:
“Pray, hope and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”

Even on the verge of death, Padre Pio spent his last moment praying. When Pope John Paul II canonized Padre Pio on June 16, 2002, that day is considered as one of the largest liturgies in the Vatican’s history.

In homily, Pope John Paul remembered how he journeyed from Poland to make his confession to Padre Pio. “Prayer and charity–this is the most concrete synthesis of Padre Pio’s teaching,” the Pope said.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us.