In Your Darkest Hours

In your darkest moments, take encouragement from Saint Padre Pio, the great stigmatist and healer. He, too, suffered dark moments, dark days, dark years. Always he turned to Jesus, and even when Jesus seemed to be "hiding," St. Pio knew He was there and he received the healing balm that only Christ can give. Here are St. Pio's words to his "superior" at the monastery in San Giovanni, Italy, during some dark times. Hopefully St. Padre Pio's words will comfort you and let you know you are not--you are never--alone:

"Ah, my dear Father, for the love of Heaven don't leave at its own mercy a life that is petering out in the thickest darkness of night, deprived of every least glimmer of light! I feel I am about to die of the torment I experience in the deepest recesses of my soul.

"Alas, what a sharp thorn there is in the depths of my soul, which makes me suffer agonies of love day and night! What acute pain I suffer in hands and feet and heart! [In addition to spiritual sufferings, Padre Pio also bore in his body the bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified for fifty years in his hands, feet, side, and heart.] . . .
"In the midst of this torment I find the strength to utter a painful 'Fiat.' ['So be it, Lord.'] Oh, how sweet and yet how bitter is this, 'May Thy will be done.' It cuts and heals, it wounds and cures, it deals death and at the same time gives life. O sweet torments, why are you so unbearable and so lovable simultaneously?"

St. Padre Pio found his physical and spiritual sufferings to be sweet and bitter at the same time because he knew that in his suffering he felt at one with the Crucified Christ whom he followed. St. Pio asked Jesus to let him join Him spiritually on the Cross. St. Pio offer himself, united with Jesus on the Cross, as a victim for the salvation of souls. You, my dear friend, can take your own sufferings, no matter what form they take, and offer them to Jesus. Unite yourself with Him on the Cross and He will use you to help Him save souls. You are beautiful, my dear friend; you are loved; you are never alone, even in your darkest, most painful moments.

"Possessing Him within me," said St. Padre Pio, "I am impelled to say with the spouse of the Sacred Song [Song of Solomon in the Old Testament], 'I found Him whom my soul loves; I held Him and would not let Him go.'" Not only can you, too, my friend, find Jesus within your soul; you can find Him constantly surrounding you with His unfathomable love.

(I've taken St. Padre Pio's words today from Letters, Volume 1, pages 1227, 1228, 1239)

So Your Efforts Didn't Turn Out Perfectly--So?

Saint Pio continues to love and to pray for and to help his "spiritual children." You, my dear friend, are a "spiritual child" of God, so that makes you a spiritual child of Saint Padre Pio, too, since he works for Jesus, even now from Heaven. St. Pio always said he would do more for you after he reached Heaven than he could on earth, so always feel free to ask him to intercede for you with Jesus. He will be so kind and good, as always, and he will help you.

Saint Padre Pio had a way of sharing his very heart and soul with his spiritual children. For example, here he says to you, his spiritual child, "You must not be discouraged or let yourself become dejected if your actions have not succeeded as perfectly as you intended. What do you expect? We are made of clay, and not every soil yields the fruits expected by the one who tills it. But let us always humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing if we lack the Divine Assistance. To be worried because something we have done has not turned out in accordance with our pure intention shows a lack of humility. . . . Rejoice in the Lord, even though you feel oppressed by many sufferings. Rejoice, for Jesus is with you. . . ." Amen, dear friend!

(St. Padre Pio Letters, Volume 2, pages 290 and 303)

How to Obtain Favors from Heaven

So, my dear friend, you've been needing a favor from God but your prayers seem unanswered. Saint Padre Pio has a bit of encouragement here for you:

"Always give most fervent thanks to God through Jesus Christ. By so doing, you will prepare yourself very well to receive other favors from Heaven. On the other hand, whoever does not appreciate the favors he has already received is very naturally unworthy of further favors."

But, my dear friend, you say you are worried that someone or something will snatch those favors from your grasp before you even take hold of them? Saint Padre Pio continues: "Pray constantly and you will thus win the victory over your enemies. Humble yourself beneath the powerful hand of the Heavenly Physician and thu, when the heavenly nuptials are celebrated [when you arrive in Heaven], Jesus will have you sit in the first place at thebanquet table, for God has promised that whever humbles himself will be exalted." (Letters 2, page 519)

Rest Beneath the Cross of Christ

Saint Padre Pio would have you rest in the "Heart of our Divine Master." And don't worry about being rejected by Our Lord, no matter how miserable, sinful, unworthy, worried, or distressed you feel. Those are all just feelings, nothing more. In fact, take Saint Pio's advice when he says to you, "The Heart of our Divine Master has no law more lovable than that of sweetness, humility, and charity. Do you know what the shepherds do in Arabia when they hear thunder and see the air filled with lightning? They retire with their flocks under the laural bushes. Now, let us do the same: When we see that persecutions and contradictions give us a forewarning of some great displeasure, we must retire with great confidence under the cross of Our Lord, along with our affections, because all will work out to the benefit of those who try to love God. Take heart," continues St. Padre Pio to you, "and keep your heart well recollected. Be very wary of anxiety. Often place your trust in Divine Providence and be sure that heaven and earth will pass away before the Lord will fail to protect you." (Letters 3, page 609)

The Healing Physician for You

Saint Padre Pio had the gift of healing. God healed people through him--and God still does do that through our Padre. If you have a need for any kind of healing--whether mental, physical, or whatever--ask St. Padre Pio to intercede for you with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Padre Pio will do that for you. He always told people to send him their requests via their holy guardian angel, and you have your own holy guardian angel, so why don't you today ask your sweet and faithful angel to take your message to St. Pio and to ask our dear Padre to do whatever he can to help you? My good friend Dorothy Gaudiose, who worked for Padre Pio for three years in Italy (she is now in Heaven), quoted the Padre's words in her book, Prophet of the People, and I'd like to share those words with you now:

"Love is the realization and communication of the superabundant life which Christ declared He had come to give us," said St. Pio. "Let us listen to that Voice: 'As the Father has loved Me, so also have I loved you; continue then in My love.' To His activity as Divine Teacher, Our Lord added that of a healing physician. Having died once, He reigns, the Author of Life for evermore." (Prophet of the People, page 180)

So, my dear friend, please ask your holy guardian angel to take your needs to Saint Padre Pio and to ask our Padre to do whatever he can for you by presenting your needs directly to Jesus, Our Lord, Our Divine Teacher, Our Healing Physican.

Amen.