I have been blessed by praying Padre Pio’s prayers, especially the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I prayed to Padre Pio and asked him to save my marriage for I am currently in the process of a divorce. On June 13, 2008 we went to court regarding the divorce. I prayed to Padre Pio with great devotion for his intercession. Four days later, my husband told me that he no longer hated me and that he wanted to talk to me about our situation. I prayed to Padre Pio to guide my husband and send him a sign regarding what he should do with his life. My husband told me that he had a dream in which he and I and our son were all together. Glory be to God! I know that Padre Pio has heard me and prayed for me to the Lord.

– Name Withheld

My mother, Margaret McVeigh, went into a coma and we were told by her doctors that she would not live. We began to pray to Padre Pio and we asked him to give our mother two more years of life. The doctor told us that it would not matter how many prayers we prayed because our mother was going to die. He believed that she would die within two days. Much to the doctors amazement and also to our own, our mother came out of the coma. She lived for two more years, the years that we asked Padre Pio for. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts.

– Elizabeth and Bernadette McVeigh

I ask for your prayers as I am at a place in my life where I am in great need of God’s help and direction. Some time ago, I had a very vivid dream whereby I saw a man with a dark robe on and a beard. In my dream, the man said to me, “I was wondering if you would like to become a nun, after your children are raised?” I told him that I did not think so. But I said that I did have some things that I wanted to do for God once my children were raised. He said to me, “But what are you planning to do for God right now?” Shortly after that dream, I went to confession to Father Solcia at Our Lady of the Rosary. At the end of the confession, Father Solcia handed me a prayer card and said, “Padre Pio is praying for you.” On the prayer card was a picture of the same man I had seen in my dream. Below the picture were the words, “Padre Pio.”

– Name Withheld

I have been praying to Padre Pio for a few years now. Since praying to him I have stopped taking tranquilizers and am free of panic attacks. But most importantly, I now have a strong faith and I believe my faith will see me through anything. Everything in my life has changed for the better with the help of Padre Pio, our Lord and our Lady.

– Name Withheld

My family and extended family are from Italy and some of them knew Padre Pio. My grandfather, Cosmo Orlando, who was a farmer, remembered Padre Pio from the early days. He said that Padre Pio was always the one boy who acted as mediator when disputes rose among friends.

My father was twelve years old when he moved to America. His mother took him to the monastery to say goodbye to Padre Pio. My father remembers vividly taking hold of Padre Pio’s hand when saying goodbye to him.

In 1958, while on deck in a baseball contest, I was struck in the head with the bat from the player who had just struck out at the plate. I was eight years old at the time. I suffered a double skull fracture and underwent an eight-hour operation. My life was in the hands of two wonderful neurosurgeons, Dr. Greenberg and Dr. Fromm. Although, I survived the operation, Dr.Greenberg informed my mother that the prognosis was very dim. I probably would suffer permanent brain damage and thus a normal life was not likely.

My grandfather, who had an undying belief in Padre Pio, possessed one of his gloves. It was placed on my forehead in the hospital. When I was released from the hospital, I continued my recuperation and a month later I was able to return to school. After that, I never looked back, even though a plate was inserted in my head the following year. I remained under Dr. Greenberg’s care until I turned twenty-one years old. He always told my mother and myself that he could not explain my recovery, especially since a part of my brain had to be removed from the left lobe. Dr. Greenberg used to say that someone else or something else assisted me. He concluded that my recovery was a medical miracle. My father retains the glove of Padre Pio to this day.

– Joseph Orlando

Elidé Bellomo was one of Padre Pio’s earliest spiritual daughters. She first came to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1946. Padre Pio asked her to stay and help with the many duties of his growing ministry. She helped establish the prayer groups and assisted at his hospital. Elidé was very close to her mother and when her mother died suddenly from a heart attack, Elidé was grief-stricken. She immediately went to Padre Pio. “Padre,” she sobbed, “What am I to do now?” Listen to me,” Padre Pio said. “I am now your entire family; mother, father, brother, anything you want. Your mother is in Heaven. Let us concentrate on trying to get there ourselves.We must do our best to deserve it.” Elidé found great comfort in his words.

On September 23,1968, about 12:00 in the afternoon, I was wounded in Vietnam. I was an Army Field Artillery officer attached to an armored cavalry battalion. As a forward observer, I was responsible for artillery support. We came under enemy fire and I was wounded in the chest by small arms fire.The impact of the bullet knocked me down and the fire fight continued, while my Radio Telephone Operator bandaged my chest and gave me a shot of morphine. He laid me in the bottom of a tracked vehicle as the fighting elevated. It took about 15-30 minutes to get a helicopter evacuation in to take me and the other wounded to the city of Chu Lai where there was a hospital. During this entire time I was conscious although I almost lost consciousness several times.

While laying there waiting to be evacuated, my whole brief life of 23 years passed in front of me. I prayed to God to let me live. I was newly married and prayed that He would let me return to my wife. God gave me another chance that day. I don’t remember when I was introduced to Padre Pio, but I do know that Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968 and I believe that he died about the same time that God gave me a second chance. I have a special devotion to Padre Pio and daily incorporate his Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and his meditation after Holy Communion into my daily prayer life.

– Gerry Murphy

I am from the Philippines and I work as a Sports Events Specialist. My job requires a lot of traveling abroad. I was on a work assignment in Jakarta, Indonesia when my husband emailed me to say that he wanted a separation. The pain that his words caused me cannot be described. I went to the Catholic Cathedral in Jakarta and spoke to a priest about my marriage situation. The priest told me that I should remain with my husband. Several days later I went back to the Cathedral for Sunday Mass and spoke to another priest. He gave me the same message as the first priest. I prayed for guidance in reading the Holy Scriptures and when I opened my Bible, there were the words of Jesus on divorce.

I was calling my husband on the phone and sending him text messages but he would not answer them or communicate with me. I prayed to Padre Pio for the healing of my marriage. One night I had a dream. I dreamed that I had come back from my work abroad and there was an old man in my house. The hood of his black coat was pulled up on his head. In my dream, my husband was there in the house too. He was smiling at me and he embraced me with love. All was well. After that dream, I felt stronger emotionally. I felt I was not alone in facing my problems.

I continued to pray to Padre Pio for his intercession. When I finished my job assignment and returned to my home in the Philippines, I was nervous. I did not know what to expect. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful homecomings I ever had. The love that my husband expressed to me was something that I had not felt from him for a long time. I believe that it was Padre Pio in my dream, telling me that he was praying for me.

– Malyn – Philippines

In 2005, I went on a pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo. While there, we celebrated Mass next to Padre Pio’s tomb. After that, I had a great desire to learn more about Padre Pio. When I returned home, I ordered a statue of Padre Pio from a Catholic organization. The statue arrived with one hand missing. I was so disappointed that I started crying. However, I found the little hand wrapped up and in the box. I did not have any strength in my body at the time and I was in alot of pain. I took the little hand of Padre Pio’s in my own and prayed. I have been pain free ever since. I thank God and I thank Padre Pio. I have taken the little hand to the hospital on a number of occasions and have prayed with the patients there. The blessed little hand has helped alot of people, including stroke victims and many others.

– Socorro Zamora

Until recently I was only vaguely aware of Padre Pio. However, I entered the most traumatic period of my life and had very difficult decisions to make and to abide by. Previously, I had similar decisions to make, but always failed miserably and lapsed back into very heartbreaking situations. This time though, I found two magazines of Padre Pio. The articles in these magazines, especially the Padre’s writings on suffering, filled me with so much grace, faith in Jesus, and strength, that, thank God and Padre Pio, I have taken the right road and made the right decisions. Each time I face moments of depression, I read Padre Pio’s writings, and before long, I fell greatly helped.

– Name Withheld