“Take concern to have your heart be more pleasing to our Master day by day.”
—Padre Pio in a letter to Antonietta Vona, January 2, 1918
Padre Pio was celebrated for his understanding of the spiritual life and the struggles we all face. The letters he wrote to his spiritual directors and to the many people who sought his advice are a profound source of direction and encouragement. This collection of 365 reflections drawn from those letters offers inspiration for every day of the year. Let Padre Pio share his wisdom with you and become your guide to holiness.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Enduring message
By Carol Blank
Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione in Pietrelcina, Benevento, Italy in 1887. He took the habit of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in 1902, was ordained to the priesthood in 1910, and died in 1968, having gained worldwide attention for his mystical experiences including bilocation and visible stigmata. He was canonized in 2002.In “Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day,” author Gianluigi Pasquale presents excerpts from Padre Pio’s letters to more than 20 spiritual directors, directees, and friends. Though most of the entries were written in the early twentieth century they speak clearly to today’s Christians striving for sanctity.To one friend, he suggested ways to avoid scorning God, including you must forgive everyone in Christian charity and not complain about offenses done to you. To another he described the three facets of charity: love of God, affection for oneself, and preference for one’s neighbor.Padre Pio’s writings often addressed virtue. He named four virtues for interior perfection: charity, joy, peace, and patience. The virtue of kindness, he wrote, is essential for dealing with our neighbor, and it is characterized by pleasantness, courtesy, civility, and an aversion to rudeness. In another letter, he declared that Jesus likes to communicate with simple souls, thus we should hold the virtue of simplicity in great esteem.In a lovely letter to another friend, Padre Pio urged continuing on the chosen path without fear, remaining in the boat in which the Lord has placed her. Your fear, he wrote, would be sillier than a baby’s fear in the lap of its mother.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day
By Liney
Anything by Padre Pio is bound to be spiritually fulfilling and inspirational, however this book of days has many letters that I have not seen before. Very glad I found it.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Proof Positive of the existence and goodness of God
By E. Burke
Saint Padre Pio died in 1968. This amazing saint is one of my favorites. As a young man when I had heard about him, he sounded too good to be true, so like a fool I mentally lumped him in with the likes of Jimmy Swaggert. Huge mistake on my part. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina Italy was a devout man so in love with Jesus that Jesus gave him the gift of the stigmata, and he suffered with the pain and for him, the embarassment the wounds of Christ being obvious and visible on him for 50 years. They bled more as Good Friday approached each year. Up to a cup of blood a day just from the wound in his side around Good Friday. These wounds never healed until just before he died, and they never became infected, and they smelled of flowers. He had other gifts from The Most High. He was seen in bi-location, including by World War 2 British and American Bomber pilots in front of their bombers at altitude over wartime Italy, warning them not to bomb there. Years afterward some of these men heard of him and came to see if he was the Monk in the sky they had seen, He was. Padre Pio could speak with his guardian angel, and even see him. One thing worth learning from him was when he asked his Guardian, ” What was it about man that made the angels so jealous that 1/3 of them rebelled against God and were cast down as demons with satan?” He said the angel told him that it was because man could suffer for God. Contemplate that one if you dare. Demons would attack him in his room alone at night, the other monks would hear the crashing and smashing of furniture and in the morning he would be bruised and cut. One time he was asked, ‘how many demons are there in this world’, he answered, ” If you could see them they would blot out the sun “. We are surrounded at every moment by the enemy, we need to pray to save ourselves. Remember that in His ‘Sermon On The Mount’ Jesus told us we are the light of the world, but He also said, ” Without Me, You Can Do Nothing !”Padre Pio loved hearing Confession and celebrating Mass. Most of the time the people who came from far and wide to have him hear their confessions were unremarkable. But some people discovered he would know their sins before they opened their mouth, or they would have forgotten a sin of old that needed to be confessed and repented. He once chased a woman down the street who had two infant daughters, because he could see that when they grew up they would sin greatly because their mother had not disciplined them when they were young. He later apologized to her realizing she could never have known this. If you have a need for God’s help, pray to Padre Pio who is in heaven with Our Good and Blessed Lord, and ask him to pray for you or whoever you think needs God’s help. He used to talk with Our Lord while here on Earth, so you know they talk in Heaven, and like the angel Pio could see our Lord who he loved so intensely.This book is a help in getting to heaven. It offers insights from this devout and holy man, now a saint. You will be glad you used its wisdom. You will find it is money well spent.
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