Your Suffering, Divine Fire, and Saint Padre Pio

Saint Padre Pio usually made his daily mediations before the Tabernacle in the church in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, at the Franciscan monastery where he lived. There he communicated with his Lord, offering Him praise, thanksgiving, and pleading for the needs of all the souls who came to Padre Pio for his prayers. From Heaven, St. Pio pleads for you, too, in your needs, my friend.

St. Pio bore the bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified for fifty years in his hands, feet, and side, and these caused him continual pain, and yet he was actually grateful for all of it because he believed his sufferings, when offered up to God, united with Jesus on the Cross, would be used by God to save souls. He truly believed what Saint Paul says in Colossians 1:24: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church."

Perhaps, my dear friend, you could claim that Scripture for yourself, in your own sufferings? Yes! You can offer up your own afflictions to God, united with Jesus on the Cross, as did Saint Padre Pio, and God will use your offerings to save souls.

You might join your prayers with those of Saint Padre Pio as he kneels before the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. (Before he died he said that if you want to find him after his death, you would find him kneeling before Jesus in the Tabernacle in the Church.) Saint Padre Pio said: "My heart feels drawn by a higher power before being united with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. . . . At the moment that I am in possession of this greatest Good, then yes, the plenitude of sweetness is truly so great that I almost say to Jesus, 'Enough! I cannot stand anymore.' I forget that I am even in this owrld. The mind and heart desire nothing more. I sometimes ask myself if there are souls that do not feel their chest burn with divine fire, especially at the moment that they find themselves before Him in the Blessed Sacrament." (from The Life of Padre Pio by Gennaro Preziuso, page 181)

Run to Jesus, my dear friend, in the Blessed Sacrament, and there you will not only find Saint Padre Pio and all the holy angels and saints--in spirit--but you will also find The Answer to your every need and suffering.