Be Healed

So many hundreds of people visited St. Padre Pio in San Giovanni, Italy, during the eighty years he lived on earth. They sought his prayers and his comforting words. God had given St. Pio the five bleeding wounds of Christ, the stigmata, which he bore for fifty long years in his hands, feet, and side. He was in constant pain. For example, the wounds in his feet caused him intense pain when he walked.

Many people knew St. Padre Pio well, and one of those people was Oscar DeLiso who wrote a book entitled "Padre Pio: The Priest Who Bore the Wounds of Christ." (1960, McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc.) In his book, beginning on page 142, Oscar describes how a wounded war veteran traveled all the way up the mountain to St. Padre Pio's monastery to attend his Mass and to ask for his blessing. Among Padre Pio's many gifts from God was the gift of healing, so the war veteran hoped that Jesus would heal him through St. Pio. Here is how Oscar describes this true story:

"In the winter of 1936, soldiers were still returning from Africa, where all military operations had stopped months before. One day, a veteran on crutches, made his way up the graveled road. For three days in the harsh December cold, he sat in front of the door of [Padre Pio's church] Saint Mary of the Graces. He would leave the clearing only for his meals. For the whole three days, he showed the people coming and going a gash in his knee. His face was bathed in tears. His own wounds were not the only reason for his sorrow. In 1936, the civil war in Spain had just begun, and his brother had gone there to fight with the Nationalists. When he himself had returned from Ethiopia, with his painful, crippling wound, his spirit had been crushed by the news that his brother was reported missing. After his three days of crouching on the church steps in prayer and weeping, he finally steeled himself to go to Padre Pio. The compassionate people moved aside to let him enter the church before his turn. He knelt before Padre Pio as best he could with only one good leg, and Padre Pio motioned to the crowd to give space to the crippled soldier. Then Padre Pio lowered his head toward the man.

"Throw away your crutches!" St. Padre Pio told him.

"Padre Pio, I cannot. I need them to kneel, to get up. I cannot walk without my crutches."

"Open your hands and let the crutches go. Drop them!"

In the silence of the church the veteran's breathing sounded unnaturally loud. "Padre Pio, I am afraid. I will fall."

Severely, Padre Pio said, "Stand up."

The war veteran tried to keep all his weight on his good leg. Still gripping the crutches, he tentatively touched the floor with the crippled leg. Then suddenly he opened both hands and let his crutches go, standing on his two feet as the crutches crashed to the floor. He took a few steps. Then he cried aloud with joy. He could walk, run, leap, his leg was cured. The gasp that rose from the crowd quivered the windowpanes in the church. Padre Pio was already walking away, slightly wavering on his feet, [from the pain of the bleeding wounds of Christ], as always, toward the sacristy, behind the altar."

Why have I shared this true story with you, my dear friend? Because St. Padre Pio is still alive; he's in Heaven with Jesus, and he is ready to intercede for you with Jesus. Just ask St. Padre Pio to help you, and he will.

God bless you, my dear friend.