Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Stop-over at Padre Pio Church

Whenever I go to Quezon or Batangas, I do not know why I have the impulse to visit the Padre Pio Church at Sto. Tomas. Posted photo of the church and his image.

In the church, you can buy colored candles (with incense to burn) for prayer offerings. The colored candles stand for specific things to pray for, like green for healing and brown for thanksgiving. The small store of the church sells them plus other items like rosaries, oil, prayers, statues and books.

There is a beautiful Padre Pio Chapel in Libis, Quezon City that I plan to check out.

Francesco Forgione was born to Grazio Mario and Maria Giuseppa de Nunzio on 25 May 1887, in Pietrelcina, a farming town in the southern Italian region of Campania.



Padre Pio then became a spiritual director, guiding many spiritually, considering them his spiritual daughters and sons. He had five rules for spiritual growth, namely, weekly confession, daily Communion, spiritual reading, meditation, and examination of conscience.

He compared weekly confession to dusting a room weekly, and recommended the performance of meditation and self-examination twice daily: once in the morning, as preparation to face the day, and once again in the evening, as retrospection. His advice on the practical application of theology he often summed up in his now famous quote, "Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry". He directed Christians to recognize God in all things and to desire above all things to do the will of God.

Based on Padre Pio's correspondence, even early in his priesthood he experienced less obvious indications of the visible stigmata for which he would later become famous.


The Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church is a church in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy owned by the Ordine dei Frati Minori Cappuccini di Foggia. Built in devotion to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, it can accommodate 6,500 people seated at worship, with standing room for 30,000 people outside. The Genoan architect Renzo Piano designed the church. It is located in front of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, a big Italian hospital and research center, founded by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.

Source: Wikipedia

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