Padre Pio of Pietrelcina commemorated in Victoria
Saint’s 139th birthday marked with prayers, rosary and adoration
Padre Pio prayer groups in Gozo and devotees of the saint will gather at the Capuchins sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces in Victoria on Monday to celebrate the 139th birthday of St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. A prayer session will start at 6.15pm, including rosary, followed by moments of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
A solemn concelebrated mass, led by Mgr Ġwann Sultana, will be held at 7pm. To mark the occasion, Vincent Vella, on behalf of all prayer groups, will present a donation to fund a number of bursaries to help Capuchin seminarians in Kenya. The meeting ends with the singing of the hymn to Padre Pio and the kissing of the saint’s relic.
Padre Pio, born on May 25, 1887, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, who was known for his piety and charity, as well as the gift of the stigmata. He became a priest in 1910, but was permitted to remain at home because of his poor health.
By 1919, word began to spread about Padre Pio’s stigmata and people came from far away to visit him.
Padre Pio became popular with the people he encountered, who soon began to attribute supernatural occurrences to him. Among others, he was said to levitate and performed miracles. Padre Pio’s famous saying was: “Pray, hope and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”