Saint Padre Pio: Part Six

Hello again, dear friend. So far I've shared with you about Saint Padre Pio's gifts of Stigmata, Perfume, Conversion, Bilocation, Miracles, and Discernment of Spirit. As you know, I've been using, as my fact and quote source, the pamphlet written by my dear friend Dorothy M. Gaudiose who worked for Padre Pio for three years at his monastery home in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. (She gave me written permission to freely quote her material.) Today I'd like to share with you what Dorothy said about Padre Pio's gift of Prophecy. And of course, as with all of Padre Pio’s many spiritual gifts, the Source of them is God, and it is God who does all the wonderful work through St. Padre Pio.

"Padre Pio, during World War Two," said Dorothy, "predicted that not a bomb would fall on the city of San Giovanni Rotondo, and not a bomb fell, even with tan air base only fifteen miles from the city occupied first by the German army and then by the American army. He predicted a monastery would be built in his hometown of Pietrelcina," continued Dorothy, "and it was [despite the poverty and near-inaccessibility of the town at the time].

"Saint Padre Pio foretold, during the reign of Pope Pius XII," said Dorothy, "that the Blessed Mother would save Italy from falling into the hands of the Communists, and she did. During World War Two Padre Pio predicted the defeat of Germany, and the rise of Communism. He foretold the building of his hospital, the Home for the Relief of Suffering, and that it would triple in size. [People scoffed at him and said it could never be built, first of all, in the remote and rocky area near his monastery. He proved them all wrong!] The hospital--originally dedicated in 1956 as a three-hundred-bed hospital--became a nearly one-thousand-bed hospital in 1968, the year he died. Padre Pio," said Dorothy, "lived long enough to see this prediction come true.

"Now Padre Pio had this gift of foretelling the future events in an individual's life, too," continued Dorothy. "For example, Corrado Cardinal Ursi of Naples, Italy, told of an experience he had with Padre Pio. The Cardinal said that when he was Bishop of Potenza, a city near Rome, he went to visit Padre Pio, who asked him where he was from. Three times the then-Bishop answered, 'Potenza,' and three times Padre Pio contradicted him, 'No, you're from Naples.'

"Finally," said Dorothy, "the Bishop gave up in exasperation. When he returned home from his visit with Padre Pio, he found an official letter from the Vatican on his desk. The letter said he had been appointed Cardinal of Naples. That's when the new Cardinal Ursi recalled Padre Pio's prophecy."

Yes, Saint Padre Pio could prophecy about the future, and God was able to help people through Padre Pio when he used that spiritual gift--and any of his other spiritual gifts too. Are you worried about your own future, dear friend? Our Lord Jesus knows exactly what your future holds, and He is not going to allow anything to come your way that you--with His mighty help--cannot handle, so don't worry. Ask Saint Padre Pio and your faithful Holy Guardian Angel to help you too. They will. And remember to try to do as Padre Pio always recommended: "Pray, hope, and don't worry."

Next week I'll share with you about Saint Padre Pio's gifts as a Confessor. Okay? In the meantime, if you have something weighing on your conscience, go right now to Padre Pio and share your heart and soul with him. He'll bless you for doing that, and you'll have sweet dreams tonight.

See you next week!