St. Pio Pietrelcina's Stigmata

Spiritual Torments

Saint Pio Pietrelcina believed that the only way for the soul to reach God was through suffering. He thought his own soul was lost in desolation and despair as if he were in Hell. His fellow friars thought Saint Pio was being attacked by the Devil both in his body and his soul. Saint Pio said that the Devil appeared to him in different forms: as naked girls, as a crucifix, as the Pope, as a guardian angel, as St. Francis, and Our Lady.

Saint Pio was tormented by these visions but was able to distinguish between the Devil's visions and his visions of Jesus. In Saint Pio's words, "Now, twenty-two days have passed, since Jesus allowed the devils to vent their anger on me. My Father, my whole body is bruised from the beatings that I have received to the present time by our enemies. Several times, they have even torn off my shirt so that they could strike my exposed flesh."

Stigmata of Saint Pio Pietrelcina

Saint Pio Pietrelcina received the wounds of Jesus on his body. He was terrified by the stigmata and asked that Jesus remove the marks on his body but not the pain. His stigmata wounds did disappear but reappeared in 1918. He felt the crown of thorn upon his head, the scourging, and the wound in his hands and feet. The stigmata made his health even worse.

St. Pio Pietrelcina Dies

There was much controversy and investigations into the life of St. Pio Pietrelcina but in the 1960's. Pope Paul VI dismissed any accusations of wrongdoing against Padre Pio.

Saint Pio died on September 23, 1968. People who were with Padre Pio when he died said that all marks of the stigmata disappeared when he died.

Saint Pio Pietrelcina was canonized a saint on June 16, 2002. He is now one of the world's most popular saints. Many people wear a Saint Pio Pietrelcina medal or a Saint Pio Pietrelcina pendant in his honor. They make pilgrimages to the statue of Saint Pio in Messina, Sicily and wear the Saint Pio necklace as they pray before the statue that cries blood.