I did not know that a "mystic monk" by name of Padre Pio was "one of the Roman Catholic Church's most revered saints."He met his maker about 40 years ago, but now the Catholic Church has dug him up, cleaned him up and are going to put him on display in a glass coffin for several months. You can go see him yourself on April 24.
Pio, a Capuchin Friar, reportedly had the "stigmata" - the wounds from the nails driven into Jesus' hands and feet. (The interesting thing about this is that most scholars are convinced that, because nails were almost never used by the Romans, Jesus' hands and feet were tied to the cross - assuming you believe those stories at all.)
The exhumation of Pio's body involved a three-hour service that went 'til after midnight. That's kinda spooky.
Supposedly, Pio is the favorite saint of Italian Catholics and they pray to him even more than they pray to the "Virgin" Mary or Jesus. Some 7 million folks come to visit him in his tomb annually and there are more than 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" around the world, consisting of about a million people.
He was quite a guy. He wrestled with the devil once in his monastic cell. He could predict future events. He was seen in two places at once. And, what's really scary, is that he could tell you your sins before you confessed them!
Pope John Paul II sainted Pio in 2002 in front of a huge crowd at the Vatican "after the Church said it had found evidence that the miraculous cure of a sick woman was due to the dead monk's confession."
Now, some party-poopers are claiming that he was a fraud. They actually have the gall to say that he used acid on his hands to create wounds similar to what Jesus' hands might have looked like if he had actually lived and actually been nailed to a cross.
Ladies and gentleman: In spite of what the above would suggest, we really do live in the 21st Century. It's just that some churches and their flocks are still stuck in the 11th century.
I like what someone else said: "Why not pray to the dead? They're closer to God than we are!"
3 comments:
Belief is strange! I wonder why some of those same people see science as wrong too.
Bob Poris
I think you would do well to find our more facts and truthful information about Padre Pio. Try my book, "Padre Pio and America"
Frank Rega
Thanks for writing, Frank. What wasn't "truthful" in my post?
I don't believe in magic, or "saints," or praying to dead people.
My point was not so much about Padre Pio, but the whole notion that some people have supernatural powers and/or that one can receive benefits from praying to them once they have died.
That, in my opinion, is nonsensical.
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