Saint of the day September 23: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. Catholic Saints

2023-09-23 02:00:00

According to a letter sent by the Pilgrim Pope to the friars of San Giovanni Rotondo about three years before his death, Wojtyla, while still a young priest, met Padre Pio and confessed to him.

The content of the letter was made public – in accordance with the will of the Pontiff – after his death in 2005. In it, John Paul II called Padre Pio “generous dispenser of divine grace, always available to all.” He further describes him as someone full of receptivity and spiritual wisdom, especially in the dispensation of the sacrament of penance. The Polish Pope thus attested to why large crowds of faithful came to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo to look for Padre Pio.

What John Paul II expressed was in complete contrast to those circles in which it was stated that Padre Pio was an excessively rigorous confessor, who treated pilgrims harshly. In aid of this comes the certainty that these always returned to see the Father, and on top of that they summoned others.

Thanks to the saint of Pietrelcina, many became more aware of the seriousness of their sins, and, thanks to that, they were able to genuinely repent.

Epilogue: prayer and charity

Padre Pio left for the Father’s House on September 23, 1968, after several hours of agony, in which he repeated in a weak voice “Jesus, Mary!”

During the ceremony of his canonization, celebrated on June 16, 2002, Saint John Paul II forcefully stated: “Prayer and charity, this is a highly concrete synthesis of the teaching of Padre Pio, which today is once again proposed to everyone.”

To learn more about this great saint:

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