Your Holy Guardian Angel

(Since next week is Christmas week, please accept this message as my gift to you for Christmas week, dear friend. I will write again to you after Christmas.)

You certainly have a holy Guardian Angel always near you and eager to help you. Just speak to him, tell him your needs, ask him always to help you--and he will! He is waiting for you to speak to him; he actually longs for you to communicate with him.

According to Saint Padre Pio, "Your angel is not like you are. Your angel is very obedient." (page 214 in Prophet of the People by Dorothy M. Guadiose who worked for Padre Pio for three years and who was my dear friend.)

A blessed Christmas to you, dear friend, and please return to my blog and Facebook page after Christmas for more wisdom from Saint Padre Pio!

Do Not Fear as Regards Your Soul

Saint Padre Pio reassures you, "Do not fear as regards your soul. Jesus is and will always be yours, and nobody will take Him from you. Isn't this sufficient for you? Assiduously study Jesus Christ and His divine doctrine, and follow His illustrious example, which He places before us as a model, in divine Scripture, and do not fear the roaring tempest, which is permitted by God as a countersign of His predilection for your soul." (Letters 3, p. 791)

Your Little Defects

Are you worried about your flaws and mistakes and weaknesses? Saint Padre Pio reassures you: "Don't worry about your little defects. They will pass or rather, if they don't, they will serve as an exercize in humility and mortification. Live tranquilly, my child, and do not fear because Jesus is with you. Continue to travel the path you have taken and never slow down." (Letters 3, page 351)

Are You Sick, Suffering, Poor?

Are you sick, are you suffering, are you poor? Do you feel alone in your troubles? Never fear; God is with you. In fact, Jesus suffers right along with you--within you. St. Padre Pio told the doctors and nurses who served at the huge hospital he had built in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, "Do everything out of love for Jesus Christ. Do it with love. Bring love. When you see the patient, look at Jesus Christ. In every sick person, see Jesus suffering. In the poor whom you love, you see Jesus twice, because Jesus was very poor." (A Padre Pio Profile, p. 35) If you are that sick person, that suffering person, that poor person, you are not alone. Jesus is with you, He is in you, and He will never stop loving you and helping you, no matter what!

The Face of God is Smiling on You, My Friend

When you feel unloved or lonely or depressed, think of the beautiful, shining face of God; think of Jesus smiling at you, because He surely is doing that right now, my friend, no matter how poorly you think of yourself and no matter how undeserving you think you are of His love. As Saint Faustina of the Divine Mercy said, His love is "unfathomable." And as Saint Padre Pio said, "What depths of love does His Heart not contain! His Holy Face is filled with sadness [as He feels your pain along with you] and with utter tenderness [as He smiles down upon you]. His words spring from the profoundest depths of His Heart and overflow with Love." (p. 169, The True Face of Padre Pio, by Winowski)

What do you say to God?

Do you sometimes wonder what in the world you should say to God? Your mind is filled with worries, you are behind schedule; in fact, you have so much to do, you just find it hard to even think of God, let alone stop and talk to Him. And what would you say to Him, anyhow? Let Saint Padre Pio help you: "If you cannot speak to Him, your mind being to busy or tired, do not be too discouraged. Imitate the servants of royalty and make Him a fine courtsey. He will appreciate your presence and your silence, and on another occasion your heart will rejoice when He takes you by the hand and starts to talk to you, accompanying you through the host of avenues in His garden of prayer. . . . Thus you should never be embarassed or ask yourself, 'What shall I say to Him?' For merely by being in His presence you are performing just as useful a duty--perhaps even more useful although less in keeping with your tastes. Therefore, when you pray to God reflect that you are in the light of truth. Speak if you can and remain silent if you cannot. Show yourself to Him and have no fear." (p. 94, The True Face of Padre Pio by Winowska)

Be kind to yourself, dear friend

Dear friend, please take St. Padre Pio's words as being said directly to you: "If the mercy of God depended on what you think, all men and women would be in hell." (Letters 3, page 950). What St. Pio means is that you tend to be too hard on yourself, judging yourself as unworthy of any kindness, any compassion, any mercy, any love from God and from others. Think about what St. Pio said, "If the mercy of God depended on what you think, all men and women would be in hell." Remember that the greatest attribute of God, according to the wisdom of many saints, is mercy. God IS Mercy. God IS Love, and that mercy and love extend to you, dear friend.