EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Padre Pio relics en route to Perth
The relics of Saint Pio Pietrelcina will return to St Mary’s Cathedral from 22-26 September. Photo: Ron Tan.
By Matthew Lau
The Archdiocese of Perth will once again welcome the relics of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina – better known as Padre Pio – to commemorate the centenary of his permanent stigmata apparition in 1918, and the 50th anniversary of his death in 1968.
The relics will return to St Mary’s Cathedral from 22-26 September with an itinerary that almost mirrors their visit to Perth in 2016, which attracted more than 8500 people to the Cathedral.
The first class relics of Padre Pio include: cotton gauze with bloodstains, crusts of his wounds, a pair of his gloves, a lock of his hair, his mantle, and a handkerchief soaked with his sweat hours before he died.
Cathedral Dean Fr Sean Fernandez said St Mary’s is glad to again be welcoming the relics of Padre Pio.
“‘Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church,’ wrote Pope Francis in Gaudete et Exsultate, and we see that in the people who flocked to the relics of Padre Pio the last time they were here – they were drawn by the holiness of the friar,” Fr Fernandez said.
“The relics connect us physically with the life of the saint and witness to his being conformed to Christ in His Passion.
“All are welcome to participate in the Masses, and to make use of the opportunities for Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick”.
Economic Provincial of the Capuchin Friary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Fr GianMaria Di Giorgio pictured with Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey at St Mary’s Cathedral in 2016. Photo: Ron Tan.
Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione on 25 May 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy, has long been a popular saint in the Church.
On 20 September 1918, while hearing confessions, the stigmata – believed to resemble the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion – started appearing on his hands, feet and side.
By 1919, news began to spread and people came from far away to examine him.
The phenomenon continued for 50 years until the end of his life, when he died aged 81 on 23 September 1968 – the date now honoured as his feast day.
Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1999, and three years later canonised him Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
Pope Francis prays in front of Padre Pio’s body in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, on 17 March 2018. Photo: Shrine of St Pio of Pietrelcina/Catholic News Service.
On 3 March 2008, the body of St Pio was exhumed and placed on display for veneration, before being re-interred in 2010 in the Church of Saint Pio, in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo, in special golden crypt.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis marked the 50th anniversary of Padre Pio’s death and the 100th anniversary of him receiving the stigmata by visiting the famed saint's hometown and the pediatric oncology ward of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza – the hospital St Pio founded.
Pope Francis venerated the relics of Padre Pio at his tomb in San Giovanni Rotondo on 17 March 2018, before celebrating Mass with 30,000 faithful at Padre Pio's shrine.
“He loved the Church. He loved the Church with all its problems, with all its woes, with all its sins – because we are all sinners; we feel shame – but the spirit of God has brought us here to this Church, which is holy,” Pope Francis said.
“And he loved the holy Church and its sinful children, everyone. This was St Pio.”
A full list of services during the visitation of the relics is below.
For more information, visit: www.perthcatholic.org.au
SCHEDULE
Saturday 22 September 2018
8am – Mass, Veneration of the Relics, followed by Reconciliation
6pm – Mass, Veneration of the Relics, with Reconciliation from 5pm to 6pm
Sunday 23 September 2018
8am – Mass and Blessing with the Relics
9.30am – Mass and Blessing with the Relics
11am – Solemn Mass with Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey and Veneration of the Relics
5pm – Mass and Veneration of the Relics
Monday 24 September 2018
8am – Mass, Veneration of the Relics followed by Reconciliation
12.10pm – Mass, Veneration of the Relics, with Reconciliation from 11am to 12pm
Tuesday 25 September 2018
8am – Mass, Veneration of the Relics followed by Reconciliation
12.10pm – Mass, Veneration of the Relics, with Reconciliation from 11am to 12pm
6pm – Mass (anointing of the Sick) and Veneration
Wednesday 26 September 2018
8am – Mass, Veneration of the Relics followed by Reconciliation
12.10pm – Mass, Veneration of the Relics, with Reconciliation from 11am to 12pm
7.30pm - Novena, Benediction, and Veneration of the Relics