Wabe: On saints and intercessions

AGES ago, my father brought me to the Summer Palace of the Pope at Castel Gandolfo in Italy. It is a small hill town that features panoramic vistas of Lake Albano, a crater lake on whose volcanic rim the town sits on. Passing thru the small town, the tour guide Maria caught my attention when she pointed out to a Piazzale Padre Pio Da Pietrelcina. It was such a mouthful that I thought she was saying a tongue twister.

At that time, I didn’t really know who Padre Pio was, but she regaled us with a quick anecdote on why he was a saint. Having been educated in all girl Catholic school, the importance of the “communion of saints” was emphasized to us since we were in our lower elementary years; even learning about various saints life stories and why we pray this line in the Apostles Creed.

Praying to saints and asking them to intercede for us is not a new concept to me. Recently, when I thought I was going lose my husband because of a near fatal motorcycle accident where he was hit by a 10-wheeler truck, two friends came to me with a third class relic that touched the heart of Padre Pio. His heart is a first-class relic (meaning something of the saint himself) that was brought to our country last October. I was given a hanky and a medallion by two dear friends on separate visits.

It was touching, really, that they passed on their dearest treasures to me. I consider them to be big blessings and great agents of my husband’s healing because until now, he keeps these holy relics next to him. I am ever so grateful to all the people that prayed for him and supported my family. I felt it not just thru text, viber, or fb comments, but people actually came every day in the 24 days he spent at the hospital. In our darkest hours, angels in the form of people carried us through.

I took a picture of the yellow bandana, said the prayer contained therewith, and asked for the Padre’s miraculous intercession. Of course, curious, I did some further research and learned that Padre Pio was one of the few priests in the Church’s history to bear the visible stigmata or wounds of Christ in his palms and feet. Stigmata is considered a religious miracle, as well as a personal communion with Him, because the wounds parallel those of Christ’s when he was nailed on the cross, allowing the recipient to share his body and blood.

Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgioni in Italy in 1887, died in 1968 and was beatified in 1999. He was given the name Pius when he joined the Capuchin friars. The late Pope John Paul II, who is now a saint himself and who happens to be my favorite pope, canonized him in 2002. Padre Pio went through suffering and remained steadfast in his faith. He is known as the patron saint of adolescents, civil defense volunteers, and stress relief.

Oh stress relief! That I needed a lot of. On top of that, Padre Pio is known for his miracles of healing, which is precisely why people queue up to touch his relics when it is brought all around the world. And again, healing was something we needed so desperately. We just didn’t need healing for my husband’s physical injuries, but I also sought it for my children (2 adolescents and one preschooler), who were traumatized and emotionally broken. At our lowest point, all that we could cling to, really, was the power of prayers.

Padre Pio’s intercession means a lot to me because he is considered to have a pure heart. Not many can say they have this in our imperfect world! When his body was exhumed in 2008, it was found to be intact and not badly decayed at all considering it was buried for decades. His body is displayed in San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy and is known as incorrupt.

Some might say it is crazy and almost fatalistic to believe in something like this. But for me, believing is better than the pitiful alternative. In my life, because of God’s grace, I have always been blessed to feel that hope shall always spring eternal and miracles can happen. His will be done. My husband is our greatest Christmas present. Even the doctors marvel at the mere fact that he survived the impact! Life shall always be the greatest miracle...and we all have been given this gift.