Devotees of miraculous healer and intercessor Saint Padre Pio around the world celebrate Saturday, Sept. 23, the feast day of the well-loved saint.

Known as the great apostle of the confessional, six feast day masses will be celebrated at the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel of the Philippine Center for St. Pio on E. Rodrigues Jr. Avenue, Quezon City.
The holy masses will be held at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 3 p.m., and at 7 p.m. Novena masses were offered from Sept.14 to 22 .
At the Parish and National Shrine of. St. Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas. Hyderabad, India Archbishop Anthony Cardinal Poola will preside over a high mass at 9 a.m.
A day before the feast, Lipa Archbishop Gilbert A. Garcera presided over a mass for St. Padre Pio at 5 p.m. Monsignor Ruben Dimaculangan served as homilist.
A procession was held last Sept. 14.
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 55th 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 which has resulted in widespread devotion.