Padre Pio Biography Essay Example

Padre Pio was born to Grazio and Giuseppa Forgione, in Italy at a small farming town known as Pietrelcina on 25th of May, 1887. He was baptized the following day, in the castle Church that was just nearby, with his brother's name Francesco, who passed on in early infancy. His parents worked as peasant farmers. Even though the Forgiones were not wealthy in terms of material goods, they were unquestionably rich in God's love and their life of faith. Padre Pio's parent supported all his developments in the Catholic Church and more so were very religious. His entire family used to attend the daily Mass. For the purpose is this paper, Padre Pio also known as Francesco Forgione, he was one of eight children. At the age of 15, he was ordained a priest and became a part of the Capuchin monk's order. Padre Pio was found to be the first priest in the Catholic religion to receive the stigmata, the crucifixion wounds which Jesus had to bear the 3 days he suffered. Almost every day for over 50 years Padre Pio lost almost a pint of blood because of the stigmata. Many times Satan tried to break his faith in God, but Padre Pio knew God's work for him. Many people who believed in Padre Pio and miracles were performed. He was then canonized in 2000, by Pope John Paul II.

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When Padre Pio was a young man, he used to be a boy at the altar at his local church and people knew him for atonement and was at some point quarreled by his mother for laying om a floor made of stone. In childhood, it was very evident that he had a very deep devotion. At the age of five, he firmly consecrated his being to Jesus. He loved to play church, sing hymns and he also loved to be by himself where he could pray and read. He also experienced supernatural visions that kept recurring themselves which he actually ignored and just presumed that same occurrences were also experienced by others. Later in life, he confided his experience to a certain priest who was very amazed to know that such an occurrence was rarely experienced. He also experienced the want of being a victim of celestial love; an idea of religion where an individual wished to acutely endure severe and constant suffering, so as to atone mankind failings. As an adult, he commented that when he was young, he used to converse with his guardian angel, the Madonna, Jesus, and used to suffer attacks from the devil.

Padre Pio as the 4th of the eight children of his parents. His other siblings were three younger sisters: Grazia, Pellegrina, and Felicita; an older brother known as Michele; three of his siblings died in infancy. His parents first learned about his desire of becoming a priest in the year 1987 this was when he was ten years old. A very young Capuchin friar was campaigning the countryside looking for donations. He was drawn to this spiritual being and told his guardians that he wanted to be a friar with a beard. When he was fifteen, he was completely ready and was admitted to Capuchin Order of the Friars Minors which is in Morcone, in Italy. His fellow colleagues admired him and his deep devotion. He then honored Pope Pius I by taking the name Pio, since Pio used to see his relics at his local church. In 1904, he became very ill and could only digest cheese and milk. He was then sent to the mountains where there was air that was much better for him, but since this failed, he was taken back home to his family. Despite everything that happened, he still continued studying priesthood.

Padre Pio was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Paolo Schinosi at the age of twenty-three on 10th of August 1910 at the Cathedral of Benevento. His first mass was celebrated four days later. The Holy Mass celebration was meant for Padre Pio, the spirituality center. On 20th of September, he was listening to confessions when he suddenly started to feel pain in his feet and hands. That was when he saw the stigmata, Christ's wound, appearing on his feet and hands. This was a painful experience for him and there was bleeding. He developed painful permanent stigmata which bled profusely for the next fifty years and only disappeared before passing on.

The wounds actually smelled like roses, and even though they kept on weeping, the wounds never were infected. The doctors who later examined his condition were surprised at how they had been perfectly shaped. Word started spreading by 1919 about his stigmata and individuals from various parts of the world also came to analyze his condition. He then turned out to be famous with the individuals he met and started to attribute paranormal phenomenon to him. For instance, he was stated to rise and had the ability to perform miracles. Him being famous turned out to be the Church's source of concern and the Vatican started to moderate his practices to reduce his interaction with the public. He too was not comfortable with his new found fame and attentiveness he got due to his stigmata. An investigation conducted by the Church into his stigmata generalized that his condition was real. The Vatican started to change its attitude towards him by 1934 and he was then permitted to do public responsibilities. He was now capable of preaching, notwithstanding not ever officially being licensed to do so by the Church. People were encouraged by Pope Pius XI to visit him. In the year 1947, he was visited by Fr. Karol Wojtyla who prophesized to him to he would ascend to the most elevated position in the Church. Padre Pio at that point used his ubiquity to open up a healing facility.

On the morning of 23rd September in the year 1968, Padre Pio passed on of a discernible attack of the heart at the friary of Our Lady of Grace. After his death, different partners and the ministers were so anxious to begin the extensive canonization process, whereby the mystic could be named as a saint of the Catholic Church. Padre Pio's memory was beautified by Pope John Paul II at a Mass on second of May, 2000, as the last step in preparation for sainthood. He was a mystic of the Catholic Church. His mystic inclinations were notable in the entire district and was a regarded profound confessor and advisor to a large portion of the occupants of the locale. A portion of the witnesses announced bilocation examples in association to Padre Pio as well.

The voices and visions which afflicted Padre Pio when he was a youth continued during his early priestly years. In 1901, he built up a closer acquaintance with Salvatore Maria Pannullo who became Pietrelcina Archpriest. In 1906 and 1905 he conferred with Padre Benedetto Nardella of San Marco, an expert in mysticism, and later in year 1911, he also confided in Padre Agostino of San Marco. Therefore, Padres Agostino and Pannullo, with Agostino, were concerned to the real extent of the Pio's paranormal occurrences. He advised people to hope, pray and to be calm. Pio also had other diseases, incorporating cancer which was healed miraculously after few treatments. Other issues, like arthritis, that actually plagued him years later, did not go away at all. After he died, over 100,000 individuals attended his funeral. Padre Pio was recognized Pope John Paul II as a saint in 16th of June, 2002.his day of feast in 23rd of September. He's the patron of civil defense adolescents, volunteers, and the Pietrelcina village.

In general, he had not traveled far from his birth locale. The farthest he ever was in his whole life was to Rome, in 1917 in the month of May. But for years later after his passing on billions of pilgrims went to see the friary in San Giovanni Rotondo where he used to live. His life events reflected his commitment and dedication to and the love he had for God. He had already vowed to live his whole life for God at a very young age. He was a very passionate person of God who was given Christ's wounds. This gift which he received was actually witnessed by the entire world that was in awe of this miracle. For sure, he lives an extraordinary life.

Bibliography

"Padre Pio." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com. (March 19, 2018). http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/padre-pioStauffer, Kathleen. Padre Pio: An Intimate Portrait of a Saint Through the Eyes of His Friends. Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 2007.

Kelly, E. F., and Grosso, M. (2007). 'Mystical experience'. In E. F. Kelly, E. W. Kelly, A. Crabtree. Gauld, M. Grosso, and B. Greyson. Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

A Short Biography of Padre Pio." Padre Pio Devotions. 2008. Padre Pio Devotions. 10 Oct. 2008.

"Padre Pio da Pietrelcina." The Vatican Website. 10 Oct. 2008 <http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20020616_padre-pio_en.html>.