Flora Cantábrica

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Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Appearance of the stigmata
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…-One of the events that intensely marked the life of Padre Pio was what was found out on the morning of September 20, 1918, when, praying in front of the Crucifix in the choir of the old small church, Padre Pio had the marvelous gift of the stigmata. The stigmata or wounds were visible and remained open, fresh and bleeding, for half a century. This extraordinary phenomenon once again drew the attention of doctors, scholars, journalists, but above all ordinary people to Padre Pio, who, over the course of many decades, went to San Giovanni Rotondo to meet the holy friar.

In a letter to Padre Benedetto, dated October 22, 1918, Padre Pio recounts his «crucifixion»: “What can I say to those who have asked me how my crucifixion occurred? My God, what a confusion and humiliation, I have the duty to manifest what You have done in this petty creature of yours!

It was the morning of the 20th of last month (September) in choir, after the celebration of the Holy Mass, when I was surprised by the rest in the spirit, similar to a sweet dream. All the interior and exterior senses, in addition to the same faculties of the soul, found themselves in an indescribable stillness. In all this there was a total silence around me and within me; I immediately felt a great peace and an abandonment in the complete deprivation of everything and a disposition in the same routine.

All this happened in an instant. And while this was unfolding; I saw before me a mysterious character similar to the one seen on the afternoon of August 5. This one was different from the first, because he had blood emanating from his hands, feet, and side. The vision terrified me; what I felt at that moment in me; I couldn’t say. I felt myself dying and I would have died, if God had not intervened to sustain my heart, which I felt it jump out of my chest.

The character’s sight disappeared, and I realized that my hands, feet, and side were pierced and dripping with blood. You can imagine the ordeal that I experienced then and that I continue to experience almost every day. The heart wound bleeds assiduously, beginning Thursday afternoon through Saturday. My father, I am dying of pain from the torture and from the confusion that I experience in the most intimate part of my soul. I fear bleeding to death, if God does not listen to the groans of my poor heart, and have mercy to remove this situation from me….