Padre Pio developed a special love for America and Americans - to the point that he wished that all Americans would become his spiritual children. (This book shows how we can still do so!) Includes the fascinating life story of Padre Pio, with emphasis on his early years at San Giovanni Rotondo. From this remote mountain friary he became world famous and exercised unbelievable influence on the world. Covers his early work with Mary Pyle, and with the American GIs who came to visit him during WWII when his part of Italy was liberated. This book demonstrates his amazing sense of humor, his prayer and fasting, his uncanny knowledge of people, his profound supernatural awareness, and more!

The first historical appraisal of the astonishing life and times of a controversial twentieth-century saint Padre Pio is one of the world's most beloved holy figures, more popular in Italy than the Virgin Mary and even Jesus. His tomb is the most visited Catholic shrine anywhere, drawing more devotees than Lourdes. His miraculous feats included the ability to fly and to be present in two places at once; an apparition of Padre Pio in midair prevented Allied warplanes from dropping bombs on his hometown. Most notable of all were his stigmata, which provoke heated controversy to this day. Were they truly God-given? A psychosomatic response to extreme devotion? Or, perhaps, the self-inflicted wounds of a charlatan? Now acclaimed historian Sergio Luzzatto offers a pioneering investigation of this remarkable man and his followers. Neither a worshipful hagiography nor a sensationalist exposé, Padre Pio is a nuanced examination of the persistence of mysticism in contemporary society and a striking analysis of the links between Catholicism and twentieth-century politics. Granted unprecedented access to the Vatican archives, Luzzatto has also unearthed a letter from Padre Pio himself in which the monk asks for a secret delivery of carbolic acid—a discovery which helps explain why two successive popes regarded Padre Pio as a fraud, until pressure from Pio-worshipping pilgrims forced the Vatican to change its views. A profoundly original tale of wounds and wonder, salvation and swindle, Padre Pio explores what it really means to be a saint in our time.

A collection of ten articles and stories about St. Padre Pio. Seven have been published separately in Catholic magazines and periodicals, and the other three appear here for the first time in print.

The fascinating life story of Padre Pio, with emphasis on his life as a seminarian, young priest and his early years at San Giovanni Rotondo. From this small, remote mountain friary, he became world famous and exercised unbelievable influence on the entire world, though he was soon forbidden by his superiors to preach, to correspond or to write. Covers his early work with Mary Pyle, and with the American GIs who came to visit him during WWII when his part of Italy was liberated. Padre Pio developed a special love for America and Americans - to the point that he wished that all Americans would become his spiritual children. This book demonstrates his amazing sense of humor, his prayer and fasting, his uncanny knowledge of people (even before they visited), and his profound supernatural awareness. In sum, Padre Pio and America will instill a profound awe in readers over the impact a truly saintly priest can have on all who come into contact with him!

This rare glimpse into the heart and soul of Padre Pio reveals the profound spirituality and humanity of the beloved Capuchin friar canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Beyond the extraordinary events that accompanied Padre Pio's life--such as receiving the stigmata--these intimate letters attest to his personal struggles, concerns, temptations, and fears. The book consists of two parts, each with an introduction by a member of the Capuchins.

. A treasury of personal encounters with Padre Pio and a wealth of insight into the vibrant spirituality of an extraordinary saint, Graziella's newly expanded memoirs will lead readers to a more profound love of the Padre with a deep and abiding love for his children.