Padre
Pio and the Stigmata
Padre
Pio bore the wounds of Jesus on his hands, feet, and side for 50 years.
Several
days before he died in 1968, all evidence of the wounds disappeared.
On
October 22, 1918, Padre Pio wrote to his spiritual advisor, Padre Benedetto, describing
how he received the stigmata. "On the morning of the 20th of last month, in the
choir, after I had celebrated Mass, I yielded to a drowsiness similar to a sweet sleep.
All the internal and external senses and even the very faculties of my soul were immersed
in indescribable stillness. Absolute silence surrounded and invaded me. I was suddenly
filled with great peace and abandonment which effaced everything else and caused a lull in
the turmoil. All this happened in a flash.
 "While
this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious person similar to the one I had seen
on the evening of 5 August. The only difference was that his hands and feet and side were
dripping blood. The sight terrified me and what I felt at that moment is indescribable. I
thought I should die and really should have died if the Lord had not intervened and
strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest.
"The
vision disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were dripping blood.
Imagine the agony I experienced and continue to experience almost every day. The heart
wound bleeds continually, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday. Dear Father, I
am dying of pain because of the wounds and the resulting embarrassment I feel in my soul.
I am afraid I shall bleed to death if the Lord does not hear my heartfelt supplication to
relieve me of this condition. Will Jesus, who is so good, grant me this grace? Will he at
least free me from the embarrassment caused by these outward signs? I will raise my voice
and will not stop imploring him until in his mercy he takes away, not the wound or the
pain, which is impossible since I wish to be inebriated with pain, but these outward signs
which cause me such embarrassment and unbearable humiliation" (Letters 1, No. 511).
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