Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Francesco Forgione was born on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, southern Italy, to a family of farmers. He entered the Capuchin Franciscans in 1903, taking the name Pio, and was ordained a priest in 1910. From 1916 he lived in the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, in the Gargano mountains, where he remained for the rest of his life.

On September 20, 1918, while praying before a crucifix, he received the visible stigmata, wounds in his hands, feet and side, which he bore for fifty years. Church authorities investigated him and for a time restricted his ministry, which he accepted with obedience. He heard confessions for long hours each day, founded prayer groups and built a hospital, the House for the Relief of Suffering, opened in 1956. He died on September 23, 1968. Saint John Paul II canonized him in 2002.

Millions of pilgrims visit San Giovanni Rotondo, where his body is venerated. Padre Pio Prayer Groups around the world, including many in Latin America and the United States, gather on his feast for Mass and the rosary.

He is one of the most popular saints among Italian and Hispanic Catholics, and many families keep his picture at home and wear his medal, asking his help in illness and trouble.