Padre Pio

Discussion in 'The Saints' started by padraig, Sep 8, 2017.

  1. padraig

    padraig Powers

    At nights, when I am praying I love to think of Padre Pio. It occurred to me this morning to ask the question; why Padre Pio? What is it about him that draws me like a moth to a flame?

    I think firstly in the he was such a very,very great saint. By that I mean he was very, very holy indeed. All he did and was and thought and spoke was all about God and the things of God. Even to look at him is to think of God. he is such an example of the fact that we should plunge ourselves into the very heart of God with all we have. Not 50% or 80% but the whole hog. I remember one of my brothers many years ago calling me a religious fanatic. I took this as a huge compliment. Well Padre Pio is the fanatics , he is God, God, God centred in everything. I love this so much about him. He shows me the way.:):)

    “If we earnestly endeavor to love Jesus, this alone will drive all fear from our hearts and soul will find that instead of walking in the Lord’s paths, it is flying.”
    St Pio

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  2. padraig

    padraig Powers

    Another reason for loving Padre Pio is his journey in the Dark Night of the Soul. In this Padre Pio shone like a star in a dark night. Although God seemed a billion miles away Padre Pio's soul, his love burned like a sun. He reminds me in my own life not to count or understand things by what I get but rather by what I am giving. It is so easy to judge our own spiritual journey by the joys and consolations we feel. Padre Pio teaches me that it is quite the other way around. That it is when I am on my knees in the darkness of Calvary that I am closest to the Lord , not when I am on the Mountain of the Transfiguration.

    Padre Pio was a victim soul and bore the sitgmata the wounds of the cross. He hung on the cross his entire life. Well if he could do this constantly all those years he teaches me surely to bear the few minutes now and again I feel a very,very little pain.

    https://aleteia.org/2015/05/20/20-tips-from-padre-pio-for-those-who-are-suffering/

    1. "If you can talk with the Lord in prayer, talk to him, offer him your praise; if, due to great weariness, you cannot speak, do not find displeasure in the ways of the Lord. Stay in the room like servants of the court do, and make a gesture of reverence. He will see you, and your presence will be pleasing to him. He will bless your silence and at another time you will find consolation when he takes you by the hand."
    2. "The more bitterness you experience, the more love you will receive."
    3. "Jesus wants to fill your whole Heart."
    4. "God wants his omnipotence to reside in your powerlessness."
    5. "Faith is the torch that guides the steps of the spiritually desolate."
    6. "In the uproar of the passions and of reverses of fortune, we are upheld by the comforting hope of God’s inexhaustible mercy."
    7. "Put all your trust only in God."
    8. "The best consolation is that which comes from prayer."
    9. "Fear nothing. On the contrary, consider yourself very fortunate to have been made worthy to participate in the sufferings of the Man-God."
    10. "God leaves you in that darkness for his glory; here is a great opportunity for your spiritual progress."
    11. "The darkness that sometimes clouds the sky of your souls is light: by means of it, when it arrives, you believe you are in darkness and you have the impression that you are in the midst of a burning briar patch. It’s true that, when brambles burn, it gets smoky all around and the disoriented spirit is afraid of not seeing or understanding anything anymore. But then God speaks and makes himself present to the soul, that glimpses, understands, loves and trembles."
    12. "My Jesus, love is what sustains me."
    13. "Happiness is only found in heaven."
    14. "When you feel despised, imitate the kingfisher, who builds its nest on the masts of ships. That is to say, raise yourself up above the earth, elevate yourselves with your mind and heart to God, who is the only one who can console you and give you strength to withstand the trial in a holy way."
    15. "Be certain that the more the attacks of the devil increase, that much closer is God to your soul."
    16. "Bless the Lord for your suffering and accept to drink the chalice of Gethsemane."
    17. "Be capable of bearing bitter sufferings during your whole life so you can participate in the sufferings of Christ."
    18. "Suffering born in a Christian way is the condition that God, the author of all grace and of all the gifts that lead to salvation, has established for granting us glory."
    19. "Remember that we cannot triumph in battle if not through prayer; the choice is yours."
    20. "Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is a key that opens God’s heart."

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    Last edited: Sep 8, 2017
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  3. padraig

    padraig Powers

    Padre Pio teaches us that the other dimension, the citizens of heaven are always , always near. His faith opened his saintly eyes to world beyond this one. His inner eyes pierced the veil because of his huge , huge Faith.

    Which reminds me of a really beautiful thing at mass yesterday. The very,very holy (and so young) priest was preaching a little homily on how Jesus was with people were they are. Of how He did not call the apostles to the synagogue or Temple to talk to them , for instance with the apostles He spoke to them in their little fishing boats.

    Well this reminded me of something happened with our Lady quite a few years back. I was driving back for the airport just having been to Medugorje. As I looked at the city, people drinking in the streets, using drugs seeming to live such a materialistic existence far from the rarified spiritual atmosphere of Medugorje I began to feel down hearted and longed to be back there. But all at once Our LAdy spoke,

    'This is your Medugorje. Make your heart a Medugorje and the world all round you will be Medugorje'.

    But as I remembered this event suddenly I felt the presense of Mary there in the chapel yesterday as she said,

    'That is till as true now as it was then'.

    It is wonderful how heaven can dance with us like this. God is the Lord of the Dance. Who knows why these consolations come and go> But come and go they do?

    Ave Maria.
    Our Lady of the Dance, pray for us. May we dance with you for all Eternity in Heaven.

     
  4. soldier of christ

    soldier of christ Archangels

    One of the things that I love most about Padre Pio is that he is very matter of fact. He says what he means and means what he says. There was no "fluff". He told it like it was.
     
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  5. padraig

    padraig Powers

    For the same reason I love Our Lady of Fatima , who very well knew how to shoot from the hip. my mother who was a country woman and raised seven sons and three daughters was a bit like this too. I do so love people who talk straight and to the point with no pretense. This is why the villagers at Nazareth were so eager to throw Jesus off a cliff when He first spoke to them publically, He told them the truth and that was the very,very last thing they wanted.

    If we had a choice of gifts from God a friend who told us the truth about ourselves should be top of the list. But where to find such a person? What a treasure! I have an uncle and aunt when I was young who used to be like this. They made me so very uncomfortable as a teen but I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame. I think confession should be a bit like this, but I have, very very rarely found a priest who will ask the awkward questions like, say, 'Why do keep doing this?' Or as St Peter said, why do we keep going back to the same sins like a dog eating its own vomit?'

    Proverbs 26:11

    As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

    2 Peter 2:22

    Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud."

    [​IMG]


     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2017
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  6. padraig

    padraig Powers

    I heard the story of a very good and humble Italian gentleman who travelled down to San Giovanni to go to confession from where he lived in the North of England. He told Padre Pio his confession but then the saint said,

    'Haven't you forgotten something?'

    Padre Pio went on to remind him of having sex with a girl in a park during the Second World War some 20 years previously. The poor guy was petrified. How could Padre Pio have known?? He at once confessed.

    Then Padre Pio terrified him still more when he asked,

    'Haven't you forgotten something else?'

    The poor guy racked his brains but could think of nothing. Then Padre Pio smiled and reminded him he had a pair of rosary beads in his pocket which he meant to have blessed for his father. But how could the old saint have known this too?

    [​IMG]

     
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  7. gracia

    gracia Archangels

    What strikes me most about this video, after the immense honor of seeing Padre Pio, and this may be a silly thing to notice, but how lovely and good all the ladies look in their scarves and veils! The only ladies I know who veil full-time are Mennonites, and it looks striking, and other-worldly. It's an awesome opener to conversation about something that's not the weather, or football.
     
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  8. padraig

    padraig Powers

    I love the veil. It may be a silly argument but in all her apparitions Our Lady is veiled.

    1 Corinthians 11:2-16


    On Covering the Head in Worship
    2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,a]">[a] and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.
     
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  9. Fatima

    Fatima Powers

    soldier of christ said:
    One of the things that I love most about Padre Pio is that he is very matter of fact. He says what he means and means what he says. There was no "fluff". He told it like it was.
    For the same reason I love Our Lady of Fatima , who very well knew how to shoot from the hip. my mother who was a country woman and raised seven sons and three daughters was a bit like this too. I do so love people who talk straight and to the point with no pretense. This is why the villagers at Nazareth were so eager to throw Jesus off a cliff when He first spoke to them publically, He told them the truth and that was the very,very last thing they wanted.

    padraig said: If we had a choice of gifts from God a friend who told us the truth about ourselves should be top of the list. But where to find such a person? What a treasure! I have an uncle and aunt when I was young who used to be like this. They made me so very uncomfortable as a teen but I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame. I think confession should be a bit like this, but I have, very very rarely found a priest who will ask the awkward questions like, say, 'Why do keep doing this?' Or as St Peter said, why do we keep going back to the same sins like a dog eating its own vomit?'


    I concur with speaking the black and white of the faith. Grey is not of God. Ambiguity is not of God. His commandments, like adultery, do not need modern day interpretation. Along with the black and the white must come charity. Many today feel the presenting the black and the white is not charity, because they want wiggle room for sinners. When Jesus said, "anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery", he did not mean this for every generation, but the one under Pope Francis. It was for all time. There is no charity in half truths that so many in the Church accept now. False mercy is assuming that the absolutes of the faith can change with time. It cannot. "But let your speech yea be yea: and your no be no: that which is over and above these, is of evil." [Matthew 5:37]
     
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  10. HeavenlyHosts

    HeavenlyHosts Powers

    A Brief History of Holy Family School

    "The earliest known history for the community now known as Holy Family dates back to the summer of 1944 when a young man serving with the Red Cross in Italy, shared a dream he had with renowned man of God, Padre Pio, at the Capuchin Monestary in Foggia. Padre Pio is renowned for being the only priest to bear the marks of the crucifixion on his hands, feet, and side. The young man told Padre Pio how he had acquired some property in Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., a tract topped by wooded hills, which overlooked the nation’s capital. The young man shared his hope that some day, the Blessed Sacrament would be worshipped in a church on that hilltop. That visionary and charitable man was William Carrigan. Padre Pio expressed his support for the endeavor, and promised Mr. Carrigan that he would pray for that intention. The following year, while on a visit home, young William Carrigan marched up the hill and placed a miraculous medal he had received from Padre Pio in a small hole on the very hill he had referenced while sharing his dream.

    In 1948, the Archdiocese of Washington was created and Archbishop Patrick A. O’Boyle was appointed its ordinary by Pope Pius XII. Shortly thereafter, now Cardinal O’Boyle was invited by Mr. Carrigan to visit the hilltop to survey the area envisioned to house the new church. They climbed the hill and after sharing his dream with the Cardinal, Mr. Carrigan offered six acres of property in the sparsely populated, underdeveloped area served by very few roads out of Washington, D.C. After receiving the offer, and considering the challenges that this undeveloped tract of land presented, Cardinal O’Boyle accepted the generous gift, and a location for making Mr. Carrigan’s dream of building a church in this area was granted.

    In 1952, Cardinal O’Boyle directed Fr. Joseph E. Gedra to establish a parish in the area now known as Hillcrest Heights, adjoining a neighborhood in Washington long known as Hillcrest. The new parish territory, in Prince George’s County was to serve the spiritual needs of the existing area, which also included an increasing population of African‐Americans residing in the nearby District of Columbia. Many families moved only short distances from neighboring parishes in Washington. The formal establishment of Holy Family parish took place November 16, 1952, when Cardinal O’Boyle dedicated a temporary church in the Quonset building."

    So Padre Pio was directly involved with Heaven in developing a Catholic parish, school, and indirectly, a new diocese when the Archdiocese of Washington, DC was taken from the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1948. He did all of this behind the scenes with God, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, prayers from within his monastery walls. I did not know this until recently looking up some local history online. The quote above is from the Holy Family website.
     
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  11. HeavenlyHosts

    HeavenlyHosts Powers

    Ladies
    Check out veils by lily.com
    For church veils
    Business run by Catholic lady
    Veilsbylily.com
     
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  12. padraig

    padraig Powers

    The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. I am afraid we have lost this Fear. We do not even recall what Holy Fear is . It is an awareness of the numinous .. how shall I put it? God is not a pussy cat. We can;t take Him in our knees and storke Him these must be a respectful Holy Awe and awareness of who and what we are dealing with here.

    Tp put it like this. When we die we are going to one of two places. Either we go to heaven or we go to hell. This truth should be fully engravended in our hearts and not lost sight off. Life is not game and God is not a pussy cat. But where shall go these days to find a Church where these truths ar preached today.

    I'm sorry I don't want to seem like some dark , sour old grump!!

    But truly the first duty of every soul is to save itself from hell. if you do go to hell there is no coming back, believe me. We really do need to take these things seriously.

    Padre Pio did. One time someone said to him he did not believe in hell. To which Padre Pio replied,

    'You will believe in it when you get there!!'

    Good answer. Great priest.
     
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  13. padraig

    padraig Powers

    Padre Pio went all over the world even whole alive, he not only bilocated he multi located so he was seen in several places at the one time. The USA , Ireland, South America, you name it. He done it.

    People think it incredible, but I say why not. He was not the only saint or modern saint to do so. These things are more common than we think. Padre Pio was the best known but there were others. Padre Pio was simply the best known. You can be a huge saint with no one know, read the web site , 'Mystics of the Church' and you can find out about a few.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2017
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  14. soldier of christ

    soldier of christ Archangels


    I think one problem this generation has is with the fear of the Lord. They mistake it as being afraid of an almighty that is full of rath, instead of of the fear of missing out on something beautiful and wonderful. How many times have we said to ourselves that we cannot do this or that right now because we will be afraid that we will miss out on what we are doing at the moment. It is not a frightful fear, but the fear of losing something precious.
     
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  15. Fatima

    Fatima Powers

    As our Blessed Mother Mary's Magnificat spoke, "His mercy it to generation to generations to those that fear him". Why would the Blessed Mother say this, if it had not been long pondered in her heart? Her whole Magnificat seems counter culture, counter church today, as most believe they are the center of all that is good. She speaks of mercy, not as our current pope, many cardinals, bishops and priests today speak of it, but in a bold pronouncement that if one does not fear God they will not receive his mercy. Mary knew grave sin was something all should fear God's wrath for and without ones repentance salvation is not possible. In today's church one rarely if ever hears of God's wrath, mortal sin, punishment or hell. It is the Church of Nice.
     
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  16. padraig

    padraig Powers

    I had a friend an Orthodox Jewish gentleman from Jerusalem who I consider very wise because he kept coming out with very insightful, and to me often unusual statements which gave me great cause for thought.

    One thing he mentioned was how decadent he thought Western Cultures were. He is right of course but if you live inside the bubble so to speak you are the last to know. Islam and Russia for instance would very much have this view of us and many Israeli's.

    It is surprising how aligned our views can be with with these people. I heard for instance of a very influential Rabbi from New York who stated publically how concerned he was about Pope Francis. He said that the Catholic Church was always the bulwark against moral degeneracy and how he thought with Pope Francis this was breaking down. I just find this so interesting.
     
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  17. HeavenlyHosts

    HeavenlyHosts Powers

    There are many devout Jews. Not all are like the ones who put Our Lord to death.
     
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  18. padraig

    padraig Powers

    Yes it was I. a sinner who did that
     
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  19. HeavenlyHosts

    HeavenlyHosts Powers

    Yes, I see your point. Yes, it was I as well.
     
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  20. padraig

    padraig Powers

    Yet still He loves us
     
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