The 5o Year Stigmata

Short Summary: Padre Pio, known for his stigmata that lasted 50 years, endured immense pain and underwent extensive medical examination by several physicians during his lifetime.

Details

Location: San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy

Year: 1918

Prayer: Prayer of Padre Pio to Jesus: Oh my Jesus, give me Your strength when my weak nature rebels against the distress and suffering of this life of exile, and enable me to accept everything with serenity and peace. With my whole strength I cling to Your merits, Your sufferings, Your expiation, and Your tears, so that I may be able to cooperate with You in the work of salvation. Give me strength to fly from sin, the only cause of Your agony, Your sweat of blood, and Your death. Destroy in me all that displeases You and fill my heart with the fire of Your holy love and all Your sufferings. Clasp me tenderly, firmly, close to You that I may never leave You alone in Your cruel Passion. I ask only for a place of rest in Your Heart. Amen.

Verse: For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far away! -Ps 22:16-19

Full Story

Padre Pio became one of the most famous stigmatists, bearing the wounds of Christ on his hands and feet for an astonishing 50 years until his death in 1968. Initially, Padre Pio attempted to keep the wounds hidden from public view, but word quickly spread to his superiors and eventually to the general public. He wore fingerless gloves to minimize attention, although many witnesses, including fellow friars, became well-acquainted with his condition over the decades. It was reported that he lost about a cup of blood each day from these wounds. The pain he endured was unimaginable. Padre Pio once confided to a colleague, "All that Jesus has suffered in His Passion, inadequately I also suffer, as far as is possible for a human being." Throughout his life, Padre Pio’s stigmata was studied by at least five physicians. One of the most detailed examinations occurred when Dr. Giorgio Festa studied the wounds while Padre Pio was under anesthesia for a hernia operation. Other notable physicians who examined him included Dr. Luigi Romanelli, chief physician at Barletta City Hospital; Professor Giuseppe Bastianelli, physician to Pope Benedict XV; Dr. Enrico Bignami, pathologist at the University of Rome; and Dr. Alberto Caserta, who took X-rays in 1954. In a private conversation with Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II), Padre Pio revealed that the most painful of his wounds was on his shoulder—a wound unknown to anyone else at the time. This revelation came to light only after Padre Pio's death when Pope John Paul II shared the story.

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