The beloved Italian friar was known as a healer and stigmatic. He was beatified in 1999.

First-hand accounts of cures, conversions and other miracles!

"I'm a mystery to myself." With this simple admission, Padre Pio captured the feelings of many who knew him. In his latest work, Renzo Allegri, a journalist and writer, dispels some of this mystery with this unique and very human portrait of Padre Pio. It is a faithful description of an extraordinary person, a book that reads like a good novel. Beatified on May 22, 1999, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) was a Capuchin monk and mystic whose life was marked with miracles and wonders, but who said that his only desire was "to be a poor friar who prays." Book jacket.

Adolfo Affatato is one of the last living spiritual sons of St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Recently translated into English, "Padre Pio and I" is the culmination of what he witnessed as he sat by the saint's side for sixteen years. This is not a typical biography by a journalist, friar, or academic; instead, the author presents "the Padre" intimately and personally -- as a father figure who tenderly guided and directed him. This book is filled with riveting new accounts of the mystical side of Padre Pio: from the moment Affatato was called by name by Padre Pio out of a crowd to Padre Pio's characteristic rose-scented fragrance Affatato does not disappoint. Yet, the author's motivation for writing this book is not to boast of supernatural phenomena he was privileged to witness. Instead, it is a response to what Padre Pio once told him some six decades ago: "Give the love that I have put into your heart to those to whom you draw near, because in this is the meaning of life." And Adolfo has spent his adult life responding to that mandate. While most octogenarians spend their final years in repose, Adolfo tirelessly traverses the Italian peninsula giving conferences to audiences of a few dozen or a few thousand. He has spoken to popes, cardinals and countesses and regularly appears on Catholic radio and secular prime-time talk shows alike. And he never accepts a cent for his work; all proceeds for his book sales are donated to a charity. Now for the first time what Adolfo received from Padre Pio is available in English. For those who want to know Padre Pio "more and better" this book is a must read. "This book has touched the heart of Italy; yet, it also touched me. This book can change your life." Andrea Bocelli