Padre Pio, a son of Mary
The Capuchin saint resorted to the virgin mary during all his life. It is known that he had apparitions of jesus and his guardian angel at an early age. It is very likely that he had contact with the Virgin Mary in the same way, although she never said so explicitly.
In fact, on the door of Padre Pio’s room in San Giovanni Rotondo was this inscription: “Maria is the reason for all my hope.”
Padre Pio was confident that he always had the presence of the Blessed Virgin close to him. She was his support in the recurring and fierce battles he waged against the demons. When he was exhausted by these violent attacks, Padre Pio always said “Ave Maria” with much gratitude.
During the massthe Virgin Mary never stopped supporting her devoted son, who revived the passion of jesus during each Eucharist; she always stayed by her side.
For example, Padre Pio was especially close to his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, during the persecutions suffered by the clergy, which caused him too much suffering. His greatest sorrow was not being able to dispense the sacraments to the faithful.
Padre Pio, the “Living Rosary”
Padre Pio remained incessantly united with his Mother through the rosary. East “invisible thread”he said, connect our hearts to Mary’s.
The prayer of rosary beads it was the center of his relationship with Heaven. During one of his mystical experiencesOur Lady revealed to Padre Pio the following: “With this weapon you will win”. In fact, he never stopped pray the rosary and encouraged all his spiritual children to do the same, telling them: “Pray the Rosary: Pray it all the time and as much as possible“In addition, he motivated them by saying: “love your Mother and make them love her”. Always pray the Rosary.”
Padre Pio himself was healed by Our Lady of Fatima, whose statue had toured Italian cities, and later testified that “all graces pass through his hands.”
The saint of San Giovanni Rotondo often repeated: “I would like to have such a strong voice to invite sinners all over the world to love Our Lady. She is the ocean that we must cross to reach Jesus.”
The Capuchin saint died with the rosary in his hand; This was the last testimony that he left us all of the infinite power of the rosary and its prayer. Until his last breath he repeated the sweet names of Jesus and Mary, his only two loves.