# 22 OF 25 - THIS HAPPY BOOK REPORT ON PADRE PIO!

# 22 OF 25 - THIS HAPPY BOOK REPORT ON PADRE PIO

IN PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH - HTTP://WWW/CINOPSBEGONEBLOGSPOT.COM - JAN. 30, 2019

PADRE PIO - THE TRUE STORY BY C. BERNARD RUFFIN

CHAPTER 7 -- P. 97-102

    "One day the sacristan, Michele Pilla, got drunk and forgot to change the chalice... This was too much for Pio. That evening, as they took their walk, he expressed his displeasure to Panti: "I must tell you I am smarting under two offenses. First, your niece Antonietta doesn't want me in the house, lest I give my disease to her children. And secondly, the other niece, this very morning, while I was celebrating, told the sacristan to change the chalices. Well today the Lord gave me the grace of knowing that my disease is not contagious."...

  
"The people of Pietrelcina sensed that there was something about Padre Pio. He continued to observe "the discipline" on the customary days, striking himself with a metal chain until the blood ran. When he was praying at his hut in the Piana Romana, the curious would peer in to see "the mad monk."...

   
 "Pious practices such as these at first led many to dismiss Padre Pio as crank and a fanatic. Especially misunderstood was his mystical life. During the Mass, Pio  tended to take interminably long pauses as, seemingly obvious to his external surroundings, he prayed to God and conversed with celestial beings. He paused for an unconscionably long time during the Commemoration of the Living and Dead, at which point he interceded for various souls and often was able to perceive the spiritual state of certain individuals."...

    
"Nor did his fellow priests understand his ecstasies. After Mass, while he was making his prayer o thanksgiving, Pio frequently went into ecstasy, just as he did at Venafro. Pati knew what was happening, but other priest did not and were horrified when they left him in a state resembling death....

The townspeople came to realize that their native son was not a crackpot - not so much because of any miraculous events as because of his conduct and his love and concern for others...

   
 "The Pietrelcinese found Padre Pio different from other priests. Whatever he said always seemed to be of the greatest help and encouragement. No glad-handing backslapper, Pio was friendly, cheerful, polite, and witty - but basically serious. He would mince no words if he had reason to believe a parishioner was violating any of God's commandments. But so effective was he at reaching people's hearts and that townsfolk accepted rebukes they would refuse to tolerate from the other clergy. For instance, Padre Pio was totally opposed to any labor whatsoever on the Sabbath...

"Pio organized Sunday games for the townspeople so that they could have recreation and not think about breaking the Sabbath. The people grew to love him and came to call him "our saint."... In April of 1912 or 1913, all the trees in the area were infested with lice, and the fruit crop was threatened with ruin.  One day "a simple peasant" approached Padre Pio and asked him to come with him to his field to bless the trees and curse the lice.... farmers from miles around begged Pio to go through their fields...It was claimed that all the lice on the trees died... Whatever natural explanation a scientist might proffer, the Pietrelcinese were certain that a calamity had been avoided solely through the actions of their saint.".... How can you read and explain that letter, my dear Pio, when you don't even know the Greek alphabet? "You know, Pati," came Pio's reply, "my guardian angel has explained everything to me!"And that was as much of an explanation as he was to receive." ...

"There are numerous stories concerning encounters by Padre Pio with demons in physical form both in the Piana Romana and in the Tower. Several former neighbors swore that devils used to interfere with Pio's prayer and meditation at the Piana Romana by appearing in the form of a snake with an enormous head....

    

"A few days later, on Feb. 13, 1913, he wrote Padre Agostino: "My body is all bruised because of the many blows that our enemies have rained upon me." More than once in the past month, he adds, the demons snatched away my nightshirt and beat me while he shivered, stark naked, in the cold. "Even after they left me, I remained nude for a long time, for I was powerless to move because of the cold. Those evil creatures would have thrown themselves all over me if sweet Jesus hadn't helped me."...

There is much about Padre Pio, especially the supersensible aspect of his life, that will probably never be completely understood."  +++ George H. Kubeck

P.S. Letters # 5 and 6 for His Holiness Pope Francis and Bishop Kevin Vann will be mailed, Jan. 31/19.