#26 of 45 - THIS HAPPY BOOK REPORT ON PADRE PIO

# 26 OF 45 - THIS HAPPY BOOK REPORT ON PADRE PIO

IN PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH - HTTP://WWW.CINOPSBEGONE.BLOGSPOT.COM - FRI. MAY 17/19

PADRE PIO - THE TRUE STORY BY C. BERNARD

CHAPTER 9 - RETURN TO THE FRIARY - 116-124

    "Whereas many troubled people, seeking the help of clergy in time of need, were dismayed by complicated theological language, Padre Pio was always able to answer with clarity.  In his diary Padre Agostino makes frequent references to Pio's "sagacity, prudence, lucidity, and charity.... Padre Pio often said that he gave no counsel of any substance unless he was enlightened by God. Frequently, when questioned about a certain person or situation, he had no answer. On those occasions when he did speak definitely, his counsel was almost invariably helpful....

    Meanwhile, even more troublesome events were taking place in Italy and throughout the world. As early as May 1914, Pio had been sought for supernatural illumination on the deteriorating international situation, In response to a question by Benedetto, Pio said that Jesus didn't want him to disclose the ultimate outcome of the world situation. He would only tell the provincial: "Let's pray with true faith to our heavenly Father for a favorable outcome because the situation is getting rather grave and, if God does not bring about a solution, the outcome will be very grim. We do not deserve divine assistance, since we have willingly banished the most lovable Jesus from our hearts .... However, may we at least be permitted to hope in God's infinite Providence.

     
 Less than two months later, on June 28, a Serbian terrorist assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and by early August most of the world's major nations were at war. Italy, as well as America, thus far held back. Pio saw the terrifying conflict as God's punishment for man's unbelief, and he dreaded that the wrath of God would soon break out upon his country, which, like its neighbors, had apostatized from God.

    The horror of the burgeoning conflict was too much for the seventy-nine-old pope, Pius X. When "good Catholics" from the Austro-Hungarian Empire came to him, requesting his blessings on their army, he collapsed. Waving them away, he reproached them, saying "We bless peace not war!"

    Shortly afterwards he took to his bed, and, on August 20, after offering himself as a victim for the soldiers on the battlefield, he declared, "I am completely resigned to the will of God." Hours later he was dead of heart and lung problems. Padre Pio was deeply moved by the death of the pope, whose he characterized as a loss to Christendom and whom he described as "a truly noble and holy soul whose equal has never been seen by Rome." .... When Italy entered the war on the side of the allies in the spring of 1915, Pio lamented, "Italy did not want to listen to the voice of love." ....

   
In November it happened, Padre Pio was drafted. He went before the "ferocious medical captain" at Benevento, who diagnosed tuberculosis. This, under the circumstances, was not unwelcome news to Pio. He was horrified, however, when he was sent to Caserta for further examinations and "the stupid colonel" there pronounce him fit. When Pio protested, the colonel simply roared, "Go to your regiment and meet your new superior."

    Private Francesco Forgione was assigned to the 10th Company of the Italian Medical Corps in Naples where he was assigned janitorial duties. Once there, he began to vomit everything, He became so weak that his company commander ordered further examination.... Finally, the physicians came up with a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis and, just before Christmas, granted him a year's leave for convalescence. "Blessed be the Lord, who doeth marvelous things!" Pio exclaimed when he was permitted to return home....

    
 On Feb. 17, 1916, telling his mother, sisters, and friends that he was going to Foggia for a few days to assist a dying woman, Padre Pio went to the railroad station at Benevento to meet Padre Agostino, and the two journeyed to the city of Foggia, a train ride of about two hours to the northeast. The moment Padre Pio set foot in the friary of St. Anna in Foggia,  Padre Benedetto, who was there to meet him, growled, "Here's s pen and paper. When to your Mama and tell her to send your belongings, because dead or alive, your staying here at Foggia!"

    It is interesting to note a belief commonly held in the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had a long tradition of monastic holy men. According to the Orthodox, a starets (a priest or monk given the charism to discern in a practical way the will of God in relation to those who seek his counsel)  must withdrawal from the world for a time in order to return to minister.... George H. Kubeck