St Anne’s Friary Holds Public Honour of Relic of St Padre Pio
Mangaluru: To mark the 50th death anniversary of St Padre Pio, the public honour of the Relics of St Padre Pio was held from Bejai Church on September 22.
All the faithful gathered at the Bejai Church premises. The parish priest of Bejai Parish Fr Wilson D’Souza blessed the Relic and flagged off the procession. The procession culminated at St Anne’s Friary.
Later a solemn mass was celebrated by Fr Paul Melwyn D’Souza along with other priests. In his homily, Fr Melwyn briefed on the life of St Padre Pio and said, “On this day, the incorrupt tongue of Padre Pio was taken to Toronto and kept for public veneration. The incorrupt heart relic of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina will be brought to Philippines on October 11 and kept for veneration. St Padre Pio had extraordinary gifts of grace at his young age. At the age of five, he dedicated his life to God and showed remarkable recollection of spirit and a love for religious life. Padre Pio was always humble, recollected and silent. Padre Pio suffered poor health all his life, once saying that his health had been declining from the time he was nine years old. After his ordination to the priesthood, he remained in his hometown of Pietrelcina and was separated from his religious community for more than five years due to his precarious health. Although the cause of his prolonged and debilitating illnesses remained a mystery to his doctors, Padre Pio did not become discouraged. He offered all of his bodily sufferings to God as a sacrifice, for the conversion of souls. He experienced many spiritual sufferings as well”.
Fr Melwyn further said, “He had supernatural gifts, On September 20, 1918, while hearing confessions, Padre Pio had his first occurrence of the stigmata, bodily marks, pain, and bleeding in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. This phenomenon continued for fifty years, until the end of his life. The blood flowing from the stigmata purportedly smelled of perfume or flowers, a phenomenon mentioned in stories of the lives of several saints and often referred to as the odour of sanctity. Though Padre Pio said he would have preferred to suffer in secret, by early 1919, news about the stigmatic friar began to spread in the secular world. Padre Pio’s wounds are said to have been examined by many people, including physicians. At the time of Padre Pio’s death, his body appeared unwounded, with no sign of scarring. There was a report that doctors who examined his body found it empty of all blood.
Fr Melwyn also said, “Padre Pio said, “My true mission begins after my death”. Another time he said when I will be in heaven I will do more. When someone had asked what will you do after you go to heaven? Padre Pio had said, “I will not enter the gates of heaven but will stand outside and pray for my people. Padre Pio’s mission that has begun has been continued today. He is the number one popular saint and St Antony is the number second popular saint. In the world, St Antony is number one and Padre Pio is number second in terms of popularity. He is remembered for many reasons. Padre Pio was a patient sufferer. He suffered and endured in his suffering and there was patience in him. He possessed the verge of patience and wish to acquire it. Today we are joyfully celebrating the centenary of stigmata. He had the suffering and pain and his wounds were studied by the medical science and they said that the wounds were artificial and were created by Padre Pio himself.”
While concluding Fr Melwyn said, “When Padre Pio was suffering, when he was condemned, when he was accused, he said, “I have begun my Calvary and I must climb that Calvary joyfully”. Padre Pio was a patient sufferer. Padre Pio had said, “Keep close to the Catholic church alone because the church alone possesses Jesus Christ, the true means of peace and that peace is found in the Eucharist. That is only believed in the Catholic church, don’t go away from it. what did the Catholic Church do to him? At times the church was very severe and cruel on him. From 1916 to 1968 he was interrogated by the Holy office more than 25 times. He was forbidden from celebrating the mass, forbidden from meeting the visitors or celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. He had then said, “This is my cross and I have to live it. In this cross and suffering I glorify the Lord and with my suffering, the souls are purified”. Let Padre Pio intercede us”.
Fr Basil from Bengaluru, Fr Raymond from Mizoram, Fr William Prabhu, Fr Vinod, Fr Jaison and other priests were also present.
