Roman Catholics celebrate Thursday, Sept. 23, the feast day of the well-loved Saint Padre Pio, the great apostle of the confessional.
Novena masses in his honor were held from Sept. 14 to 22 at the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel of the Philippine Center for St. Pio on E. Rodrigues Jr. Avenue, Quezon City.
On Sept. 23, feast day masses will be celebrated at 10 a.m. to be presided by Fr. Ricky Montanez, parish administrator of the San Roque Parish and at 3 p.m. by Fr. Steven C. Zagala, vicar general of the Diocese of Cubao and parish priest of Christ the King. Both masses will be streamed live via the parish Facebook page.
Novena masses were also held from Sept. 14 to 22 at the Parish and National Shrine of St. Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas. A motorcade was also held at 5 a.m., Sept. 22, as a prelude to the feast.
Because of his huge following in the Philippines, the incorrupt heart relic of the miraculous healer was brought to the country on a pilgrim tour in 2018, Across the world, thousands of devotees will offer special prayers to mark the 53rd death anniversary of the popular Italian priest.
Padre Pio devoted his life to prayer and the Holy Eucharist at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotundo in Italy. He was a sought-after spiritual adviser, healer, and confessor. After he began to manifest the stigmata, the five bleeding wounds of Christ, making him the first stigmatized priest in Church history, he became a point of pilgrimage for the pious.
Born Francesco Forgione on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy, he was ordained a Capuchin priest in 1910. He founded the House for the Relief of Suffering Hospital and started a prayer group, which today, has about 400,000 members all over the world. He died on Sept. 23, 1968 and was both beatified on May 2, 1999 and canonized on June 16, 2002 by Saint John Paul II. Many miracles have been attributed to his intercession that has resulted in widespread devotion.