Padre Pio Miracles/facts

Ken bryan

Freemasons
Alberto Del Fante, the writer and first biographer of Padre Pio, who by his writings led thousands and thousands of people to San Giovanni Rotondo, used to be a fervent Freemason. As a Mason, he had also written some harsh articles against Padre Pio in the Florentine magazine Italia Laica, without even having met him. However, a prodigious healing - attributed to Padre Pio's prayers - of Del Fante's nephew, for whom the doctors had left no hope, stirred in him a desire to go to see Padre Pio. He undertook the trip to San Giovanni Rotondo out of curiosity and with much skepticism, but when he saw Padre Pio and assisted at his Holy Mass, he was so struck that he changed his life; he went on to become a militant Catholic and one of Padre Pio's most fervent and zealous spiritual children.
From then on, Alberto Del Fante devoted his life to the propagation of the Faith, especially among his Masonic former brethren. His book Dal dubbio alla fede (From Doubts to Faith) aroused in many the desire to go to Padre Pio, and from him they more easily found the way back to the Church. Not infrequently, Alberto Del Fante acted as a mediator between Padre Pio and his former brethren. Thus, one day one of Del Fante's friends, who belonged to the Masonic lodge of Bologne but had for some time followed with interest Del Fante's writings about Padre Pio, asked Alberto to have Padre Pio bless an image of St. Francis of Assisi, which the friend had been carrying around a while in his pocket.
Later on, when Del Fante went to San Giovanni Rotondo and wanted to get the image blessed, Padre Pio told him: "It belongs to a Mason, but a Mason who has St. Francis in his pocket already has the spirit of the Faith." In fact, shortly after Del Fante had brought back to his friend the image blessed by Padre Pio, the latter wanted to go to San Giovanni Rotondo, where Padre Pio later guided him to conversion. From San Giovanni Rotondo, the man wrote back to his friend Del Fante: "I am happy...I could not take a better step in my life than this; for that I thank you too!"
Dr. George Festa was the medical practitioner entrusted by the religious authorities with the task of pursuing research on Padre Pio's wounds. Later on he explained the results of his research in his book Mysteries of Science and Lights of Faith. He also reported the extraordinary conversion of his cousin, the lawyer Cesare Festa, former mayor of Arenzano of Genoa and one of the most eminent personalities in Ligurian Freemasonry.
Dr. Festa had often described to his cousin his impressions of his visits to San Giovanni Rotondo. The doctor's opinions about Padre Pio's wounds, which were scientifically inexplicable, and his admiration for Padre Pio were often the cause of sharp arguments between the two cousins. One day, however, the lawyer Festa left for San Giovanni Rotondo. When he reached the monastery, he asked some of the friars about Padre Pio, who himself happened to be among them. Without waiting for the lawyer to introduce himself, Padre Pio walked over to him and, greeting him affably, said,

"You, Sir, have come among us, although you're a Freemason!"
The lawyer Festa, a bit astonished, answered frankly: "Yes, Father!"
"And what is your mission in Freemasonry?" Padre Pio asked him.
The lawyer, with the same frankness, answered: "To fight the Church from the political point of view."

The rest may now be told by Dr. Festa, who wrote some memorable pages about the conversion of his cousin:

There was a brief moment of silence, after which the pious priest took him by the hand, looked him in the eye at some length with limitless pity and tenderness and then, taking the lawyer with him, he began to tell him the parable of the Prodigal Son, putting the greatness of the Father's mercy in such a vivid light in contrast with the moral misery of the son that the educated and intelligent man, who a little before had fought against my dialectic with the most harsh and violent battles in favor of his sect, wanted to fall prostrate at his feet, desiring only to hear from his lips a word of comfort, pardon and love! Thus, after more than twenty-five years, during which he had lost all touch with the Church, the Sacraments and prayer and was fed constantly by ideas contrary to the Faith, he was moved and happy and bowed down before the great majesty of that Word who is the joy and consolation of strong spirits.
In the Confession of his errors, he wanted to impose on himself a complete renunciation of the false ideas he had pursued until then. In the Holy Eucharist, which he has since had continually in his heart, he began to acquire the energy necessary to undertake new, more moving and glorious battles. Although that day he had declared, along with a solemn abjuration of his wretched past, that in the future he would, with faith, follow only the teachings of Christ's Church, and although he had manifested his intention to officially give up his office within the sect at once, nevertheless, in consideration of the delicate tasks Festa had taken on, Padre Pio prudently suggested to wait until the Lord Himself, at the opportune moment, would show him the way!

From Foggia, Dr. Festa received the following letter from his cousin:

I'm coming back from San Giovanni Rotondo and I'm on my way to Genoa. Allow me to embrace you and tell you with all the strength of my soul: thank you! You have opened for me a road I am going to follow. I return with a profound sweetness in my soul, deeply moved and desiring silence, silence so that nothing may disturb my spirit.

In his account, Dr. Festa continues:

At Genoa, after this first episode, his life changed radically; he wanted to be in touch with the most enlightened priests of the city; he devoted himself to works of charity; he frequented the House of God assiduously, prayed, meditated...
...

Protestants
How did we become acquainted with Padre Pio? How was it that Padre Pio, without leaving his monastery in the Gargano mountains, became known throughout the world? It was Padre Pio's spiritual children and the photographs of him that made him known almost everywhere. Every one of us came to Padre Pio through one of his spiritual sons or daughters; and before we got to know him personally, somebody had already given us a photograph of him, which made his face and his person familiar to us.
Above all, it was his spiritual children of the "first hour" - that original little group of grateful people who were either converted or healed - who led innumerable souls to Padre Pio with their words and example, prayers and writings. This little group, which was around since day one, included an American and a German, both of whom came from Protestantism. As spiritual children of Padre Pio - truly good fruit from a good tree - they went on to become excellent instruments of Divine Providence for Padre Pio's mission.
Mary McAlpin Pyle of New York, who had once belonged to the Protestant Presbyterian Church, was led by Padre Pio to the Catholic Faith. Above all, she was struck by Padre Pio's Holy Mass, which made her decide to stay at San Giovanni Rotondo. At that time, the monastery was confined to its original solitude; there were no outskirts, no houses, no hotels or other places to find lodging. The inhabited areas were nearly a mile and a quarter away. So Mary Pyle's mother, once she saw that her daughter found all her happiness in living near Padre Pio's monastery, had a villa built just a few steps away from the monastery; this villa later became a welcoming house for everything related to Franciscan life. Mary herself became a Franciscan tertiary and dedicated herself to the development of the Third Order, which flourished in the shadow, or rather in the light, of Padre Pio's monastery.
Mary used all her talent as a highly cultured lady, an accomplished musician and multi-lingual person to serve the Church and the Capuchin Order. In her house, which among other things was the center of the Schola Cantorum of Our Lady of Grace Shrine, there were always many foreign visitors who desired to learn something about Padre Pio's life from this woman who followed him virtually from the beginning and could describe some moving episodes with a grace all her own.

Excerpts taken from Stories of Padre Pio by TAN Books & Publishers, Inc

Ken bryan

Not a personal story
Padre Pio files: 'My pregnant wife was clinically brain dead, then we brought in Padre Pio's glove'


Doctors told Londonderry man Sean Mulrine there was nothing more they could do for his wife. But, he says, Padre Pio brought them a miracle


Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/padre-pio-files-my-pregnant-wife-was-clinically-brain-dead-then-we-brought-in-padre-pios-glove-13489128.html#ixzz1kL8gLhHj



One Sunday morning, 26 years ago, my wife and I were planning to go on a picnic to a local beauty spot. After we finished our dinner, Ann went into the sitting- room with a cup of coffee. The two older children, Michael and Nichola, and I started to prepare a picnic hamper.
At this point Ann was pregnant with twins. While we were making the picnic hamper we heard a scream from the sitting-room. I ran in to find Ann lying on the floor.
A few years before that, Ann had miscarried a child. I thought it was something to do with this happening again. We called a doctor. By the time the doctor came Ann was completely stiff, her eyes were rolling in her head and her mouth was twisted up to her ear. The doctor got a pair of scissors to cut the clothes off Ann and gave her several injections. The ambulance came and took her to the local hospital.
A team of doctors and nurses examined her while I sat in the waiting-room. They came to me and said: "Mr Mulrine, your wife has no more than half an hour to live. She either had a massive brain haemorrhage or has a tumour of the brain. We just don't know but we feel that's most probably what it is. " They said: "If you wish, we can keep your wife alive by ventilator until the unborn children reach the age of 38 weeks, which is about two-and-a- half months away. If you don't sign the forms, then your wife and two unborn children will die within the next half-hour."
I signed the forms and they told me to go in and say goodbye, she might or might not hear me. I went in but she was just like an animal, there was blood coming from everywhere; she was completely distorted. Then they took her away and put her on the life-support machine. She looked as if she was lying peacefully after that.
That night I went down to visit my mother and my mother- in- law and I was handed a little relic leaflet of Padre Pio by my mother. That was the first time I ever heard of him. I shoved it in my top pocket. I then went back up to our house to make arrangements for the children to be looked after. I went, after that, to arrange for time off work. The man we had bought our house off had roses everywhere in the front garden and when I was passing them I thought, 'I will take those roses to Our Lady's altar.' But I sort of laughed at it and walked away.
Eventually I was walking through a place called William Street where there's a beautiful flower shop. The window was full of roses. Once again I got this feeling that I should take flowers to Our Lady's altar. So I went in and bought some and took them up to the chapel. As I was putting the roses on the altar, the stems of the flowers caught the little leaflet I had been given. It was sticking out of my pocket and it fell to the ground. I lifted it up and knelt down and said the prayer on it, which was a prayer Padre Pio would have said for people looking for his intercession. It said everything you would have liked to have said but didn't know how to say. From that time on I had a great prayerfulness about me, which I never had before.
Ten or 12 days passed and Ann was still the same. One night I was sitting down beside her with the little leaflet and I said: "Look, if you're going to do something for me, give me a sign." I asked Ann to squeeze my hand and I swore she did. I sent for the nurse and the doctor but they told me I was clutching at straws, there was no chance at all. They said she was clinically brain dead. But they said there was a specialist coming down in a few days and he would talk to me and put me more clearly in the picture.
Eventually this doctor came down and told me what I had been told before. He said: "Your wife either had a massive brain haemorrhage or has a tumour and we have no intention of doing anything at all because your wife is clinically dead, only the machine is keeping the children going." Another five or six weeks passed. All this time I was going to Our Lady's altar with roses and praying to Padre Pio. They then asked me could they move my wife to hospital in Belfast and I said: "Yes."
One night in Belfast I was sitting beside my wife's bed when one of the nurses said: "Mr Mulrine, would you mind leaving for a while?" It was about half past one or two o'clock in the morning. I went down to the end of the corridor and I started saying the Rosary. I got up after the first decade and walked towards Ann's bed but something pulled me back. On the last decade of the Rosary I looked up the corridor and I saw this figure coming around the corner and I ran towards it and said: "Excuse me, you're looking for me."
I had never met the man in my life, I didn't know who the man was; don't ask me why I said that. He said: "I'm looking for a man called Mulrine." I said: "That's me." The man's name was Michael Murray and he and his wife ran the Padre Pio Centre for Northern Ireland. He said: "I got a phone call about half-an- hour ago from a lady who said for me to take the glove of Padre Pio to Sean and Ann Mulrine in the Royal Hospital." This was a brown mitt that Padre Pio would have had over the bandages, over the stigmata on his hands. We went up to Ann and he said to me: "She might hear you talking, tell her what it is." So I told her. We put the glove of Padre Pio on Ann's head. Despite all the tubes, she moved her hand, she grabbed the glove, she brought the glove to her face, blessed herself three times, brought it to her stomach and blessed her stomach with it. She then just fell back into the bed again. This was the first movement we had seen. After that, Michael and I sat and he told me some things about Padre Pio. Then we left. I went to my room. Next morning I went to Ann's bed again but she was moved and the bed was gone. I thought they had taken her to take the children out. The nurse came to me and said: "The doctors have read the reports from last night and they've taken her down to surgery for exploratory examination."
They removed part of the crown of her head and put a camera in to see what was there. They came to me after the operation and said they had seen several of the major vessels in the brain and they had burst. There was a large amount of congealed blood in the centre of the brain and it could not be sucked out. They said: "We don't know how the event last night happened, we can't understand it, she's clinically dead." That night I went into my room and I couldn't go through the door for the overpowering smell of roses. It was years later that I was told that this was the invisible presence of Padre Pio.
To cut a long story short, Ann came out of the recovery room, they put her in bed and she opened her eyes and started to talk and move. They took her off the ventilator to see how she would do. They called it a fluke. They said: "We don't know how this has happened." Ann got so well that she was eventually brought back to Derry, where the babies were born just a week after she arrived. She just went from strength to strength. She never looked back and she and the two boys were released from hospital on 23 September, which was the anniversary of the death of Padre Pio.
Eventually we went out to San Giovanni in thanksgiving and we met Father Alessio who was Padre Pio's secretary and nurse. He is dead since. He asked could he investigate Ann's story as part of the cause of Padre Pio. They investigated for four or five years or more. When they asked for the doctors' personal opinions, they all said it was beyond medical science how she is today.
As a result, for the beatification we were asked to meet the Pope and present flowers from the people of Ireland. And for the canonisation I was also invited to go up to the Pope with the presentations. We take the trips out now in thanksgiving. We never make any fuss about it. We don't say it was a miracle. We say it was a grace given by God through the intercession of Padre Pio.


Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/padre-pio-files-my-pregnant-wife-was-clinically-brain-dead-then-we-brought-in-padre-pios-glove-13489128.html#ixzz1kL8WojjG

Plowman

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