Padre Pio Relics will be Accessible to the Public at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle on November 2
Padre Pio Relics will be Accessible to the Public at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle on November 2
St. Pio, better known as Padro Pio, is a modern-day saint, who is beloved for his kindness, gentleness and compassion. In honor of the 50th anniversary of his death, his relics will be on display at various churches around the country, including the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg. Thousands are expected to take part in this historic moment that can inspire the faithful and offer many spiritual graces. All are welcome!
When: Friday, November 2,
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Exhibition of Relics, Veneration/Prayer
6:30 PM Bishop Gregory Parkes to Celebrate Mass in Honor of St. Pio
Where: Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, 5815 5th Ave. North, St. Petersburg
Visuals: Photos of St. Pio and his relics are found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sna2glmh17kjuqn/AACgMa-1ZB4Dm4Ycype-DRR3a?dl=0
The relics of St. Pio available for public veneration are the following: St. Pio’s glove; St. Pio’s crusts of the wounds; Cotton-gauze with St. Pio’s blood stains; A lock of St. Pio’s hair; St Pio’s mantle; St Pio’s handkerchief soaked with his sweat hours before he died. The public are invited to see and touch the relics. While most people cannot travel to the place where St. Pio is buried in a monastery in Italy, this event enables people to have a unique encounter with this mystical saint known for his holiness. Hundreds of thousands have been touched by his extraordinary ministry.
Video here:
Saint Pio Tour Relic Video Promo 2017 from Diocese of St. Petersburg on Vimeo.
Additional Information:
The 2018 tour of St. Pio relics follows the historic tour of the United States in 2017, which was a headline-making tour that attracted an estimated 250,000 faithful and was covered by media outlets such as FOX NEWS, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
About St. Pio:
St. Pio was born on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy. The future saint entered the Capuchin order at age 15, taking the name Pio. He was ordained a priest in 1910 at the age of 23. During his lifetime, Padre Pio was known as a mystic with miraculous powers of healing and knowledge, who bore the stigmata. Stigmata is the term the Catholic Church uses to speak about the wounds an individual receives that correspond to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. They can appear on the forehead, hands, wrists, and feet.
His stigmata emerged during World War I, after Pope Benedict XV asked Christians to pray for an end to the conflict. Padre Pio had a vision in which Christ pierced his side. A few weeks later, on September 20, 1918, Jesus again appeared to him, and he received the full stigmata. It remained with him until his death on September 23, 1968.
Saint Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002.
About Relics:
In the Catholic Church, relics are physical objects associated with a saint or candidate for sainthood – part of the person’s body or something with which he or she was in contact. Relics are not worshiped but treated with religious respect. Touching or praying in the presence of such an object helps a faithful individual focus on the saint’s life and virtues, so that through the saint’s prayer or intercession before God, the individual will be drawn closer to God.