A mother talks with her children about a relic of St. Pio of Pietrelcina April 13 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, Kan. (CNS photo/Christopher Riggs, Catholic Advance)
The relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina — better known as Padre Pio — are coming to Maui and Oahu in November.
Padre Pio is the well-known 20th-century Italian mystic with miraculous healing powers who bore the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus Christ.
Six relics, which have been touring the United States since last year, will be at Holy Rosary Church in Paia, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Nov. 8, with a Mass at 6:30 p.m. celebrated by Msgr. Terrence Watanabe; and at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Nov. 9, with a Mass at 6 p.m. celebrated by Msgr. Gary Secor.
The relics of St. Pio to be displayed for public veneration are the saint’s glove, crusts of the wounds, cotton gauze with bloodstains, lock of hair, his mantle, and Pio’s handkerchief soaked with his sweat hours before he died.
St. Pio was born on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy, and baptized Francesco Forgione. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan order at age 15, taking the name Pio, and was ordained a priest in 1910 at 23.
His stigmata appeared during World War I, after Pope Benedict XV asked Christians to pray for an end to the conflict. Padre Pio had a vision in which Christ pierced his side. A few weeks later, on Sept. 20, 1918, Jesus again appeared to him and he received the full stigmata. It remained with him until his death on Sept. 23, 1968.
St. John Paul II canonized him in 2002.
The Saint Pio Foundation is the organizer of the tour. Funds raised by the foundation provide grants to American Catholic health care, educational, social, religious and cultural partner organizations. More information about the Saint Pio Foundation can be found at www.saintpiofoundation.org.
Books about Padre Pio are available at the Pauline Bookstore downtown including “Padre Pio: Glimpse into the Miraculous” and “Secrets of a Soul.”
For more information about the Hawaii tour, contact the Office of Worship at ealmuena@rcchawaii.org.
