Many remember and adore Padre Pio for being a hardliner. Traditionalists tout Padre Pio’s seeming frustration with Vatican II (“For pity’s sake, end the Council quickly.”). Anti-trads focus upon his humble obedience and claim that he prophesied Archbishop Lefebvre’s fate (“You will tear apart the community of faithful, oppose the will of your superiors, and even go against the orders of the pope himself…”).

Whatever St. Pio’s actual thoughts on Vatican II, his harsh attitude towards unrelenting sinners is refreshing in today’s moral climate. But rather than highlight his reputed sternness, I will share some tender stories epitomizing the alter Christus facet of his life. Padre Pio was unquestionably, another Christ.

“During the war, bread was rationed. Since there were always guests at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, there was even more need of food for the poor people who would come. One day, when the monks gathered together in the dining room, there was only a pound of bread in the bread basket. The community of monks said grace and then sat down to eat some soup. Padre Pio stopped at the chapel. A little later he returned with some loaves of fresh bread. The superior of the monastery asked him, ‘Where did you get them?’ He answered, ‘A pilgrim at the door gave them to me.’ No one said anything but everyone knew that he was the only one who would meet such a ‘pilgrim’ at the door.”

“One morning the sacristan forgot to make sure that enough hosts were consecrated for Holy Communion, and there were very few consecrated hosts in the ciborium in the tabernacle. Having finished hearing confessions, Padre Pio began to help distribute Communion to the faithful at Mass. There were a large number of people present. He gave Communion to everyone, yet there were still some hosts left over in the ciborioum.”

“In San Giovanni Rotondo, we went to confession to Padre Pio. My grandmother, told me to request that I might be blessed with a healing, but I forgot. I remember, though, that as soon as I knelt down in front of him, Padre Pio touched my eyes and with the wounded part of his hand, tracing the sign of the cross. […] I had not yet made my first Communion and I was fortunate enough to receive my first Communion from Padre Pio’s hands… He gave me the host and then traced a second sign of the cross on my eyes with his finger. ” Gemma Di Giorgi recounts: “I don’t have any pupils. According to medical science I shouldn’t be able to see anything. Instead I see and write like a normal person.”

“Dr. Sanguineti told me about another incident, which he personally witnessed. One day a woman came to San Giovanni Rotondo with a wicker suitcase. She went into the church and waited in line to go to confession with the other women. When it was her turn, she opened the suitcase in front of Padre Pio and broke out in tears. Wrapped in some old clothing in the suitcase was the body of a baby that was about six months old. The woman was coming to San Giovanni Rotondo with her sick son, hoping that Padre Pio would heal him. But the poor boy died on the train. The woman, who was overcome with anguish but still had immense faith, hid the child in her suitcase and continued on her journey… Dr. Sanguinetti told me that if the child had been hidden in the suitcase was he was still alive, he would certainly have died from suffocation. Therefore there was no doubt that the child was dead when she opened her suitcase for Padre Pio. As the woman cried out in desperation, Padre Pio took the little body in his hands and prayed for a few moments. Then he turned to the mother and asked her with a firm voice, ‘Why are you yelling so much? Don’t you see that your son is sleeping?’ The woman looked at the baby and realized that he was tranquilly breathing.”

“When Sanguinetti died, Padre Pio wept like a small child… Padre Pio was standing in the middle of the stairway, leaning on a large wooden crucifix. His shoulders were heaving up and down as he sobbed… Through his tears, Padre Pio repeated these rather incredible words: ‘Jesus, if you had told me that he was going to die, I would have taken him away from you.’ His words seem rather shocking, but they indicated the intimacy of Padre Pio’s relationship with Jesus and the great love that he had for his friend.”

“Since I had a hard time believing what I had seen with my own eyes, I went right away to San Giovanni Rotondo, seeking an explanation from Padre Pio himself. I found him in a corridor in the monastery. Before I could tell him the purpose of my visit, he asked me, ‘How’s Fr. Placido?’ I told him that he was getting better. Then I asked: ‘Is it true that during the night you went to the hospital [speaking of Padre Pio’s bilocation] and left the imprint of your hand on the window?’ Padre Pio looked at me and replied, ‘Do you doubt it? Yes, I went, but don’t say anything to anyone.’ I returned to San Severo and told them what Padre Pio had said. Even the doctors didn’t say anything more. Fr. Placido was completely healed.”

And can we doubt that Christ had a sense of humor if Padre Pio had one also?
“Once, back in 1922 or 1923, I heard someone shout under my window: ‘Padre Pio for 20 cents!’ I looked out and saw a boy waving my picture in the air. I was so mad, so I shouted: ‘You little rascal, I heard you selling me for only 20 cents!’ The boy was scared and ran off.”