By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-10-31 16:16:28 | Updated at 2024-10-31 19:32:30
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Relics of St. Padre Pio will continue to tour the Archdiocese of Baltimore through November 9, 2024.
Catholic Review reports that the relics, which have been at various churches in the diocese since September, will be present at Immaculate Conception Church in Towson, Maryland, on November 8, and at Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, Maryland, from November 8-9.
Padre Pio was born as Francesco Forgione in 1887, died in 1968, and was canonized in 2002. Known for carrying the stigmata, he entered the Capuchin Franciscans when he was 15 and was ordained in 1910 when he was 23.
Padre Pio served intermittently in Italy’s medical corps during World War I, from 1915-1918, and was discharged for poor health in 1918.
That year, he returned to his monastery in San Giovanni Rotando and received Chirst’s wounds in the stigmata. He is the first priest in the history of the Catholic Church to receive these wounds.
Other notable saints who received the stigmata include St. Catherine of Sienna, a third-order Dominican, and St. Francis of Assissi, who founded the Franciscans but never became a priest himself.
Despite his intense physical suffering, Padre Pio founded the hospital, Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, which remains a renowned national research hospital.
He often spent 15 hours a day hearing confessions, and his Masses could take up to three hours.
