ST PIO OF PIETRELCINA, PRIEST - 23 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 23rd of September

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST PIO OF PIETRELCINA, PRIEST 

Born into a devout Catholic family on May 25, 1887, Padre Pio (original name Francesco Forgione, also called St Pio of Pietrelcina) consecrated himself to Jesus at age 5. At age 15 he joined the Capuchin order and took the name Pio in honour of St Pius I. 

In 1910, the year in which he became a priest, he received the stigmata (bodily marks corresponding to the wounds suffered by the crucified Jesus) for the first time, though they eventually healed. He was drafted into the Italian military in 1915 for medical service during World War I but was shortly discharged because of his poor health. He received the stigmata again in 1918, and this time they remained with him until his death. These and other signs of his holiness (such as his reported ability to be in two places at once and his gift of healing) drew growing numbers of pilgrims to him. He was noted for his charity and piety. He died on September 23, 1968 and was canonised in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

(Source:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Padre-Pio)

PRAYER:

Beloved Padre Pio, Saint of Pietrelcina, today I come to add my prayer to the thousands of prayers offered through you every day by those who love and venerate you. They ask for cures and healings, earthly and spiritual blessings, and for peace for body and mind. Because of your friendship with the Lord, He heals those you ask to be healed, and forgives those you forgive.

Through your visible wounds of the Cross, which you bore for 50 years, you were chosen in our time to glorify the crucified Jesus. Because the cross has been replaced by many with other symbols, please help us to bring it back in our midst, for we acknowledge it is the only true sign of salvation. As we lovingly recall the wounds that pierced your hands, feet and side, we not only remember the blood you shed in pain, but your smile and the invisible halo of sweet smelling flowers that surrounded your presence, the perfume of sanctity. Padre Pio, the healings of the sick are the testimony that the Lord has invited you to join the holy company of saints.

In your kindness, please help me with my own special request (mention your request, and make the Sign of the Cross). Bless me and my loved ones. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.