St. Padre Pio's Stigmata: Part 3

Hi! The past two weeks I have shared with you about St. Padre Pio's stigmata, the five bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified, which Padre Pio bore in his hands, feet, and side for fifty (yes, 50) years, until only days before his death. I've told you about the wounds in his feet and hands; today I'll share with you about the wound in his side. Since my dear and close friend, Dorothy Gaudiose, worked for Padre Pio for three years at his monastery in Italy, and since she gave me written permission to quote her little booklet she wrote about him, let me share her own words with you, since she is an eyewitness:

"The chest wound," says Dorothy, "was two and three-quarter inches in length with a tapering line, not appreciably deep, but it was bloody and had the shape of an inverted cross. It was located about one inch below the left nipple, close to the border of the heart, and offered the same characteristics as the other wounds, with a flow of arterial blood. The edge of the lesion showed it was not superficial. The tissue that surrounded the lesion was not inflamed, but it was painful at the slightest touch. Although this chest wound was superficial in appearance, Dr. Giorgio Festa said that he witnessed drops of blood trickling in greater quantity from the side wound than from the other four wounds. [See my last two weeks of notes which contain information about Dr. Festa.] According to the records at the monastery," says Dorothy, "Padre Pio lost about a teacupful of blood a day. [For fifty years!]

"Whenever people suggested that the stigmata were caused by too great a concentration on Christ's passion," continues Dorothy, "Padre Pio told them, 'Go out to the fields and look very closely at a bull. Concentrate with all your might. Do this and see if horns grow on your head.'

"It is interesting to know," says Dorothy, "that three months before Padre Pio's death, the wounds began to gradually emit less and less blood, and on the day he died, September 23, 1968, the wounds had completely closed.

[Let me add here, to Dorothy's account, that after his death, no scars were ever seen on Padre Pio's hands, feet, and side, where the stigmata had been for fifty years. Therefore, it is obvious that his wounds were not self-inflicted, which is what some misinformed individuals declared. There is also proof abounding that Padre Pio did not psychologically induce the wounds into his own flesh, but I don't have time today to go into details. I might do that, though, in another posting, if you would like me to so.]

Now I continue with Dorothy's eyewitness account: "The first day that the body of Padre Pio was viewed in the church [after his September 23rd death], his hands could be seen, and the wounds were closed, but after the first day, the friars put on his hands the brown fingerless mittens that people were used to seeing on his hands, and he was buried with them."

Next week, I will share with you how St. Padre Pio celebrated Mass, and how he regularly went into ecstasy during Mass and how people could see blood dripping at times from his wounded hands. (He only appeared in public without the fingerless gloves while saying Mass.) By the way, sometimes before Mass he would levitate. This was witnessed by his fellow priests. Over the next weeks and years, God willing, I will continue to share with you many wondrous things God has done and does and will do, through Saint Padre Pio's intercession.

Until next week, "Pray, hope, and don't worry," as Padre Pio always said.

My love to you, dear friend!