By Joe Pisani
TRUMBULL — The faithful came from throughout the area to celebrate Mass and venerate five major relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina at St. Catherine of Siena Parish on the fifth night of a diocesan-wide retreat.
Catholics and even non-Catholics were in awe of one of the greatest saints of the modern era, a simple Franciscan friar who bore the stigmata, or wounds of Christ.
Throughout the day, several hundred people came into the church, many in reverent prayer with petitions for the saint, who is known for healings. Some were motivated by curiosity because of the mystifying story of Padre Pio’s life, which has led so many closer to Christ.
During his homily in a Mass celebrated with pastor Father Joseph A. Marcello, Deacon Patrick Toole told just such a story, as he recounted a red-eye flight from California to North Carolina while he was working at IBM. To pass the time, he began reading a book about Padre Pio that his mother Mary Ann had given him.
“I couldn’t put it down,” he recalled. I was fascinated by this Franciscan friar and his many supernatural gifts. He bore the stigmata, the wounds of Christ in his hands, feet and side. He could bilocate, meaning he could be in two places at once. In the confessional, Padre Pio often knew people’s sins before they confessed them, and he had the gift of healing. But somewhere in that book was an exchange I have never forgotten. Someone asked Padre Pio why he spent so much time hearing confessions, sometimes 12 to 14 hours a day. I don’t remember his exact words, but he essentially said: ‘To help souls.’”
On that flight, Pat Toole asked himself what he was doing to help souls and the answer startled him: Nothing. For years afterward, the question haunted him, and it was partly responsible for his eventual decision to enter the diaconate.
Like many, Deacon Toole was initially fascinated by Padre Pio’s extraordinary gifts. However, if he were alive today, St. Pio would minimize the supernatural gifts and emphasize the importance of prayer, confession and the Mass, Deacon Toole said.
“I invite you to look at the crucifix. Look at Jesus. Look at his hands. Look at his feet. Look at his side. Look at his face,” he said. “And consider for a moment what those wounds tell you about how much God loves you. What in Christ am I being invited to imitate? His mercy? His forgiveness? His humility? His complete trust in the Father? Padre Pio desired one thing: to become like Christ. He once said, ‘Prayer is the best weapon we have, a key that opens the heart of God.’”
The Sacrifice of the Mass was the spiritual focal point of Padre Pio’s priesthood, and they were extraordinarily long.
“Eyewitnesses describe long pauses, tears, intense recollection and apparent suffering,” Deacon Toole said. “Padre Pio understood the Mass as Calvary made sacramentally present. Earlier, we gazed upon Our Lord on the cross. Padre Pio spent his life contemplating those wounds and seeking conformity to the Crucified Christ. And in a mysterious and extraordinary way, the wounds he contemplated became wounds he himself bore for almost fifty years.”
He ended his homily by urging the faithful to ask themselves the simple question Padre Pio placed in his heart on that red-eye flight: “What am I doing to help souls?”
Following the Mass, Father Marcello described the five relics of Padre Pio: a crust from Saint Pio’s wounds, a piece of his mantle, his brown fingerless glove, a handkerchief he used at Mass to wipe his tears and a lock of his hair. He urged the faithful to come forward and hold up holy cards, rosaries and sacramentals to the relics.
“God’s blessings will be upon you,” he assured them, “and all of the intentions you hold in your heart tonight will be brought by Saint Pio to the Throne of God.”
For most of the evening, the line of believers waited patiently in prayer to venerate the relics.
Longtime parishioner Jeff Wright, who was among them, said, “I have an unbelievable admiration for what Padre Pio has done and what he represents for our Catholic community as a whole.”
Quite a few people who came to St. Catherine’s also attended the previous novenas, including Esther Rivera and Luz Rivera of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bridgeport. They both said that many of their prayers had been answered through the intercession of St. Pio.
