08/09/2026
Padre Pioโs Stigmata: The Saint Who Carried Christโs Wounds
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ง๐ต๐บ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, was born Francesco Forgione in Pietrelcina, Italy, in 1887.
From his youth, he desired to give himself completely to God.
He entered the Capuchin Franciscan order and was ordained a priest in 1910.
But his life would soon become marked by extraordinary physical and spiritual suffering.
On September 20, 1918, after celebrating Mass, Padre Pio remained in prayer in the choir loft of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo.
He entered a profound state of prayer.
According to his own account, he saw a mysterious figure whose hands, feet, and side were bleeding. The figure was described as resembling the crucified Christ.
Padre Pio later recounted that he heard the words:
โI unite you with my Passion.โ
When the vision ended, he discovered that his own hands, feet, and side bore wounds resembling those of Christ's Passion.
The wounds were painful and bled regularly.
Padre Pio tried to conceal them, but news of the extraordinary phenomenon soon spread.
For the next fifty years, he would carry these wounds while continuing his priestly ministryโcelebrating Mass, hearing confessions, praying, and offering his suffering to God.
His hands repeatedly bled, and he had to endure the physical consequences while continuing his priestly ministry.
Doctors examined him during his lifetime, and his condition became the subject of considerable attention.
Padre Pio himself was uncomfortable with the attention.
He wanted people to focus not on him, but on Christ.
Padre Pio's suffering went far beyond the wounds on his body.
He experienced serious illnesses throughout his life.
He also endured periods of profound spiritual trial.
There were times when he felt abandoned and experienced intense interior suffering.
He faced criticism and suspicion.
Church authorities investigated aspects of his ministry and, at certain periods, restricted his public activities.
Yet he continued praying.
He continued celebrating Mass when permitted.
He continued hearing confessions.
And he continued offering his suffering to God.
The stigmata remained with him until the final days of his life.
And according to accounts surrounding his death, after Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968, the wounds disappeared completely, leaving no visible scars.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, bearer of Christโs wounds, pray for us.
