I have wanted to share this story for a long time. A few days before the feast day of Padre Pio, I happened to remember an Italian football legend, Sandro Mazzola, who played for the legendary Inter Milan and the Italian national team during the 1960s and early 1970s. He was one of the greatest footballers of all time. I also remembered his encounter, along with his Inter Milan teammates, with Padre Pio. Then, when Padre Pio's feast day arrived, I saw that Sandro Mazzola had passed away just one day after I had thought of him, and three days before the anniversary of Padre Pio's death. Before getting into the story, I would like to provide some background, especially for Americans who may not be as familiar with European football culture. Football, or soccer as it is called in the United States, is practically a religion in much of the world, particularly in Europe, Latin America, and Africa with 5 billions fans. Football clubs are not simply entertainment franchises where people come to watch games played athletes owned by millionares owners in closed leagues with draft systems. Football is something people live and breathe. Clubs represent cities, communities, and generations of supporters. There are countless leagues and divisions, stretching all the way down to clubs in the smallest local towns. These clubs represent people's identity, culture, and history. Football has even been associated with the outbreak of conflicts. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, some of the earliest violent confrontations occurred around football matches. For decades, rivalries between Protestant and Catholic communities have reflected the religious and political divisions in Ireland and Scotland. Other rivalries have symbolized divisions between communists and fascists, the working class and the wealthy, and competing political and social identities. In Europe, there are cities where wearing the wrong football shirt and walking just a few streets into a rival club's territory can get you into serious trouble — even in countries with some of the safest cities in the world. But football is much more than a game. Even popes have been passionate football supporters. Pope Benedict XVI was a supporter and honorary member of Bayern Munich. Pope John Paul II, himself a former goalkeeper, was a passionate football fan with strong ties to Kraków. And Pope Francis was a lifelong supporter and member of the Argentine club San Lorenzo de Almagro. And this brings us to the story itself. During much of the twentieth century, Italy was one of the great centers of world football, boasting one of the strongest leagues and some of the greatest clubs in history. Among the fiercest rivalries, both then and today, is the rivalry between Inter Milan and AC Milan. These two clubs come from the same city, share the legendary San Siro stadium, and contest a match famously known as the Derby della Madonnina. The derby takes its name from the golden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary standing atop Milan's magnificent cathedral, the Duomo. Our Lady is regarded as the protectress of Milan and its people, and both clubs share this important symbol of the city's religious and cultural identity. Before the derby, supporters traditionally sing O mia bela Madunina, meaning Oh, My Beautiful Little Madonna, a beloved Milanese song dedicated to the statue of the Virgin Mary. Historically, AC Milan supporters, known for their red-and-black colors, were associated with the working class, including laborers, railway workers, and migrants from southern Italy. Inter supporters, on the other hand, were often associated with wealthier social classes and intellectuals, sometimes jokingly portrayed as the more sophisticated or boastful side of the city. And now we come to the historic 1964–1965 season. Inter Milan were the reigning European champions, led by their brilliant manager Helenio Herrera, a deeply religious man. Several of his players, including Giacinto Facchetti, Sandro Mazzola, and Tarcisio Burgnich, were also men of faith. In January 1965, Inter traveled to face Foggia, a club then competing in Italy's top division and sitting in the lower half of the league table. Foggia is located not far from San Giovanni Rotondo, the town where Padre Pio lived in his monastery. At that point, the season had reached its nineteenth round, with fifteen matches still to play. Back then, a victory was worth only two points, rather than the three awarded today. Inter were trailing their great rivals AC Milan by five points — a considerable deficit under the old points system. Since Herrera and several of his players were deeply religious, they decided to visit Padre Pio at his monastery, approximately 40 kilometers away, on the evening before the match. When they arrived, Padre Pio welcomed them. He turned to Herrera and asked: "What are your intentions tomorrow in Foggia?" Herrera replied: "Father, we have come to win." Padre Pio responded: "So, you want to come into our home and defeat us? Well, that is not going to happen. Tomorrow you will not win, but you will win the championship — the Scudetto." Sandro Mazzola later recalled the encounter with Padre Pio in these words: "We were all standing in a semicircle, and Padre Pio slowly walked past us. When he reached me, he stopped, looked straight into my eyes, and said: 'You... you are just like your father. You have the same eyes as him. But never forget to remain humble, because on the football pitch you are only one of eleven players.' " Sandro's father was Valentino Mazzola, one of the greatest legends of Italian football, who tragically died alongside his teammates in the 1949 Superga air disaster, when Sandro was only six years old. The following day, Foggia sensationally defeated Inter Milan 3–2, just as Padre Pio had reportedly predicted. But what happened afterward was even more extraordinary. Inter now found themselves seven points behind Milan — an enormous gap at a time when victories were worth only two points. Yet from that moment onward, Inter began an incredible run of victories. They won match after match, including a spectacular 5–2 victory over their great rivals AC Milan. Against all expectations, Inter completed their remarkable comeback and finished the season as Italian champions, three points ahead of AC Milan. Newspapers even ran headlines suggesting that a saint had led Inter to the championship title. And that was not all. Inter also successfully defended their title as European champions, overcoming Liverpool in a dramatic European Cup semifinal before defeating Portugal's Benfica in the final. It became one of the most memorable seasons in the history of Italian football. Herrera and Inter's players with Padre Pio
It's a lovely prayerful book, I love reading it before sleep. I was reading last night about how Padre Pio used to say the rosary every day. One brother asked him how many rosaries and he said it was 60! He prayed that much that when they cleaned his hands of the blood they did it one hand at a time so he could still use the beads. But he did advise lay people to say one rosary a day and seemed content that they did that. He had a huge devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and she requested this. One thing surprised me a lot was that he said that Our Lady beneath the Cross was, 'Petrified', with fear. I kind of doubt this. I don't think she was petrified with fear but sorrow. People quote Padre Pio as saying this or saying that. Especially as regards to Prophesy. We must sometimes take it with a pinch of salt.
