Padre Pio as Confirmation Saint

Throughout the centuries a selected kind of people do such deeds that would be considered a saintly deed. The great deeds of these people have been recognized around the world. These people are also known as saints. For an example, Saint Padre Pio is one of the saints who has been recognized by people around the world. He was known for being the first stigmatized priest in the history of the church. After his death, people still know about him to this day.

Born as Francesco Forgione, Pio’s real name, was born in Pietrelcina, Italy. His parents names were Grazio and Maria, and their jobs were being peasant farmers. He had one older brother and five younger sisters, but two of the younger sisters died in infancy. Even though his family was poor, they were certainly rich in their Catholic faith. “As a child, he was very religious, and by the age of five he decided to dedicate his life to God” (Catholic Online n.d.). He also had a strange ability given to him that made him see guardian angels, Jesus, Mary, and thought that other people could see them as well. Because his family was poor, he had to work for his parents to tend his family’s sheep. As a result of working he didn’t have the time to go to school and have an education as other kids his age had. He wanted to become a friar of the Capuchin Order by the age of twelve, but they told him that he needed more education. His parents hired a private tutor for his, and his dad got a new job in America. After three years of tutoring he was accepted into the Capuchin Order at the age of fifteen.

As his professional life he would be ordained as a priest, and his name would be changed to Pio after Pope Pius XI in 1910. One day while he began to listen to confessions he felt a strange and sharp pain, and wounds appeared on his sides, feet, and hands. He had received the stigmata or wounds of Christ at that moment and it would come and show up from time to time making him suffer in pain. At the time World War 1 broke out and countries needed soldiers to protect them. In 1914 he would soon be drafted into the military as a medic. During his time in the military, he developed an unknown sickness that would make him leave the military. He returned to Our Lady of Grace Monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo.

After his death, he became a saint on June 16, 2002. His accomplishments included building a hospital through his fame of the stigmata he had. The hospital was called “The Home Relief of Suffering.” He has also established prayer groups that have now spread throughout the world. Another accomplishment for him is being the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Church. “He died of his old age of eighty-one. He died with the rosary in his hands, and his last words were Gesu, Maria, which means Jesus, Mary, until he breathed his last breath” (Padre Pio Devotions n.d). He wasn’t a martyr, and his body is still intact at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. He died on September 23, 1968. His time on earth has left a mark on the history of the church. The memorable miracles that were accredited to him were something you must see to believe. The first miracle accredited to him lived throughout most of his life. 

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