The Friar and the Foundress

I have always felt a deep attraction to St Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968, feast day today).  Years ago, learning about the Catholic Church for the first time, I was fascinated by the fact that this extraordinary man was actually alive in my own lifetime, for I had assumed that saints (he seemed surely to be one) were figures from the past.  Today I discover that he had more affinities with Carmel than I knew about before.  ‘The word “transverberation” means a wounding of love. We know that Padre Pio experienced this wound. He had a great devotion to St. Teresa of Avila and also to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. We know that St. Teresa of Avila also received the transverberation of her heart. One of the most beautiful of the sculptures of Bernini shows St. Teresa of Avila in ecstasy. Beside her is an angel with a most beautiful smile, ready to pierce her heart with an arrow.  In a deposition made in February 1967, a part of the document said that a visible, physical wound in Padre Pio’s side resulted from the experience of the transverberation of the heart. Padre Benedetto, Padre Pio’s spiritual director, (Padre Pio had two spiritual directors in his life) once said to him, “Everything that is happening to you is the effect of Love. It is a trial, a calling to co-redeem, and it is a fountain of glory.” [courtesy of padrepiodevotions.org]

Intercessions

RIP Chinaka, Jacqui

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Catherine, Alex (43 with five children), Theresa K, Elena

Sophie – newborn having heart surgery; Sianna, young child in the post-operative phase; James, recovering from surgery

Ivy – sick child

Brian (recovering from Pneumonia)

Kevin (heart attack)

William Gove (in recovery)

Illness:  Katy Keeling, Noreen

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Mark – brain infection

Michael, Kira – vulnerable youngsters

Defence of the unborn and the elderly