He is worshipped the world over and holds a special place in the hearts of the Irish people.Padre Pio died 45 years ago and was canonised by Pope John Paul II in June 2002.
Now a book recording cures credited to the Italian monk by people in Ireland has shot to the top of the bestseller’s list.
Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses, by Colm Keane, tells the story of 60 believers who claim their lives were saved or transformed by the saint. Here are some of their remarkable stories...
Angela, from Co. Carlow, talks about her husband Jim’s recovery from a massive brain tumour after he began having “turns” in 2006.
“We were told that he would need an operation and that the prospects were poor. They said there was a 70 per cent chance that he wouldn’t make surgery.
“They also said that even if he did make it, he’d be either brain-damaged or paralysed down one side. He had the operation on the Monday. It was the longest day of my life.
“They told us that the operation had gone as well as expected. They also told us that the tumour was ‘Grade 4’, which is the worst you can get. They had taken most of it away, but they couldn’t get rid of it all. They couldn’t get in to the stem.
“They warned us that even with the chemotherapy and radiotherapy, there still wasn’t very much hope.
“One day, shortly afterwards, I was in my car and I heard on the radio that a Padre Pio mitten was coming to Carlow. That evening, I rang the radio station and asked for the number of the man involved.
“I spoke to him and he invited us over to his house so that my husband could be blessed with the mitten, which is what we did.
“At one stage, I remember looking
at my husband and I thought he was taking another turn. His face looked
strange. Later, on the way home, I asked him, ‘why were you making a
face in the house’? He said, ‘I got a strong smell’. I asked him what
the smell was like and he said, ‘I don’t know, it was strange’.
Straight away I said, ‘that was Padre Pio’!
“For days afterwards, upstairs and downstairs at home, he kept getting that smell.
“Jim eventually had a scan and we went back to the hospital at the start of December for the results. I had a Padre Pio medal in my hand. I held it so tight that my nails crushed into my palm.
“The doctor put all the scans up on the wall. He pointed at the first one and the second one and the latest one and he said, ‘whatever you’re doing, keep on doing it’.
“He said, ‘there’s the last one. The cancer is gone’. There was nothing there. We were shocked. My husband said, ‘what do you mean, it’s gone’? But there was nothing there. Everything was gone.
“Ever since then, everything’s been perfect. Seven years later, there’s no trace of the cancer. I attribute everything to Padre Pio. I believe, 100 per cent, that he’s the man who did it.”
Charlene, from Co. Derry, tells of her remarkable recovery from a brain tumour. In 2003 she fell ill the day before her 11th birthday and was told she had a tumour the size of a man’s fist in the middle of her brain.
“The doctors told my family to prepare for the worst. They even thought I might die that night. A priest came in to see me and he confirmed me. My whole family was there, along with my godparents.
“Two nights before the operation, a man came in with the mitt of Padre Pio. My mummy and daddy had arranged for him to see me. The man told me to lift my head up, as I was very weak at the time. I felt really tired and closed my eyes. Everyone then started saying the Rosary and prayed to Padre Pio to intercede for me.
“While my eyes were still closed, I could feel this pressure at the top of my head. I wasn’t sure what was causing it, but I thought it was the man pushing on my head. I didn’t open my eyes, but I felt this pushing and pushing. There were tears coming out of my eyes and I felt a sensation coming over my body, right down to my stomach.
“The whole thing lasted only about five minutes and then the man left.
“I said to mummy, ‘why was that man pushing so hard against my head’? She said, ‘Charlene, he wasn’t. He was with us at the bottom of the bed, there was no-one at the top of the bed’. All we could think of was that the pressure I felt had something to do with Padre Pio.
“Two days later I had my operation, which lasted eight-and-a-half hours.
“We later heard that they had removed most of the tumour. Only a very small fraction was left behind. They then analysed what they had taken out and it was benign.
“The doctors were astounded at how well everything had gone. They couldn’t believe it. From the first night I entered hospital, they thought I wouldn’t survive. After the operation, I even got home early.
“They expected me to be in hospital for a month at least, but I was home six days later. So I really believe what happened was a miracle. I believe that wholeheartedly.
“I am fine now and every day I wake up and I am so thankful. I just say, ‘thank you, Jesus’.
Without him, I wouldn’t be here. I believe that, through him, I was given a second chance in life.
“I also am devoted to Padre Pio. I pray to him every day.”
Mairéad, from Co. Cavan, tells of Padre Pio’s role in the disappearance of the hole in her daughter Deirdre’s heart.
“Deirdre was born in October 1984 with a hole in her heart. They told us that the hole was very large and they didn’t hold out that much hope for her.
“We were devastated. We thought we were going to lose her and we prayed that we wouldn’t.
“Her consultant didn’t know whether to operate or not, as he wasn’t sure if an operation was appropriate.
“One night we had a knock on the door and it was a man who offered to bring us a Padre Pio cap. I had known of Padre Pio since long before then, back to when I was a child of about eight or nine. He was alive at that stage. My aunt had great faith in him. My husband’s mother also had great faith in Padre Pio.
“The man and his wife eventually brought it around. The man duly put it on Deirdre.
“We all knelt down in our sitting-room, as a family, and we prayed to Padre Pio. After that, we put all our trust in him and we prayed that he would make her live.
“A few years later, a strange thing happened. Deirdre, who was then around three years old, was sleeping in the same room as Áine, another daughter who was 10 years older than her.
“In the morning, Áine told me that Deirdre got up during the night. She crawled down to the bottom of the bed and said, ‘there’s a man in the room’, do you see the man’? But Áine saw nothing. Áine then put on the light and still couldn’t see anything.
“I have a picture of Padre Pio on my dressing-table and, some time later, Deirdre saw the picture and said, ‘I saw that man in my room, that man was with me in my room’! I got such a shock. It made me think it had to be Padre Pio who was in the room with her.
“Not long after that, we were scheduled to visit the consultant in Dublin. He got all the results and reports together and said, ‘she will never need to have an operation, the hole has closed’.
“Ever since then, Deirdre has been fine. She was just a normal girl growing up. She was very lively, cheerful and happy. Today, she is in her late 20s, married and is a wonderful daughter. Everything has been great ever since.
“I believe Padre Pio intervened for Deirdre and made her well. I really think the arrival of the cap was the turning point. She did so well from then on.”
Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses, by Colm Keane, is published by Capel Island Press and retails for €14.99.