Saint Padre Pio bore the
stigmata—the wounds of Christ—on his hands and feet for fifty years. The
twentieth-century Italian Franciscan Capuchin priest also had the gifts of
reading souls in the confessional, visions, bilocation, healing, and prophecy. At the time of his death at the age 81 in 1968,
thousands from around the world were flocking to his remote
Italian mountain village to attend his Masses,
go to confession to him, or ask for his prayers for healing and
conversion.
relics came to Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck, North Dakota on
Monday, March 12 from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. Venerating relics, is a practice rooted in Scripture.
miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had
touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured, and
the evil spirits left them,” (Acts 19:11-12).
but it is God who does the miracles, just as is recorded in Acts 5:12-16. There we
see that the apostles performed many signs and wonders including healing the
sick. People laid the sick on mats so “that at least Peter’s shadow might fall
on some of them as he passed by.”
Came
venerated the relics which included: a lock of his hair, crusts of the wounds, gauze
with Saint Pio’s blood stains, his mantle, and a handkerchief soaked with his
sweat hours before he died.
children and people from far away, while priests heard confessions, and many
stopped into the small chapel for Eucharistic adoration. The 5:30 p.m. Mass with
Bishop David Kagan (the third Mass of the day) filled to overflowing.
not seem to be a better place to be. I was not alone. The church
remained full with people coming and going and many staying awhile to rest in
the Lord.
No doubt, everyone laid their intentions down before Saint PadrePio. He was a miracle worker during his lifetime, and now from heaven, he could
pray for us all. While on earth, Padre
Pio accepted everyone who came to him as his spiritual children. He would say: “I
will stand at the gates of Heaven until
all my spiritual children have
entered.”
once again that evening, trusting in the power of his prayers.
Connection
from Bismarck to Seattle last year. We
had been playing phone tag and had agreed to talk that evening. We caught up
with each other’s families, sharing concerns and as usual assured one another
of our prayers. I told her about Padre Pio’s relics that day and reminded her of his motto: “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” We vowed not worry about our intentions. Then Jo changed the subject and mentioned a
mutual friend, Father Basil Atwell, pastor of St. Nicholas in Garrison, ND, had been helping to encourage a friend of hers
make a big life transition.
calling me right now,” Jo said. She
added him to our call. “Hi Father Basil, guess who I’m on the phone with
now. Patti Armstrong.”
calling about. “I didn’t call,” he said. “The phone was on the table and I
suddenly heard two women talking. I picked it up and said hello and discovered
you two were on the line.”
happened. Father Basil had neither
called nor answered his phone. He heard
two women talking and simply picked it up and said hello.
Father Basil was meant to pray for our families that evening. I explained
I had been praying to Padre Pio before his relics for our families earlier in
the evening, so maybe this unexplainable occurrence was meant to reassure us. We all agreed then visited on the phone for a short
while longer and promised one another of
our prayers.
I shared this amazing occurrence in an email with another friend, Monica
Hannan, who also been at the Cathedral that day. She responded: “Wow! That’s incredible. There
were a lot of prayers going up for our kids last night. I found the experience
of the relics very moving in a way I hadn’t expected. Padre Pio is also one of my
favorite saints. I carry my rosary in a case that has his picture on it, and I
pray to him often. As I was kneeling to say my prayers I detected a very
pleasant odor. I looked around to see who was wearing perfume and there was
nobody nearby. It only lasted a second. That’s the second time in my life I’ve
detected something like that. The other time I was reading a book on the rosary
and I smelled the distinct odor of roses. There’s so much out there that we
don’t understand, but I feel Padre Pio is close.”
later about it and believe it was a gift of reassurance from heaven to “Pray,
hope, and don’t worry,” because Padre Pio is on the job.
