Saint Padre Pio Rosary Bracelet in White Magnesite by Unbreakable Rosaries

A new catholic rosary bracelet. Secures with a stainless steel lobster claw
clasp.

Length: 8" - For a tighter fit you can hook the clasp on to any of the links.
Contact me prior to purchase if you need it larger and I'll be happy to add an
extra link.

Beads: White Magnesite - 6mm for the Aves and 8mm for the Pater bead.

Medals: 3/4" Traditional crucifix and a 1/2" Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
medal. The back is smooth and suitable for engraving. Both medals made in Italy.

Construction: Chain link with wire-wrapped charms and Pater bead.
Nickel-silver wire.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saint Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione on 25 May 1887 in the small town
of Pietrelcina, Italy. His parents, Grazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa de
Nunzio, were contadini – poor peasant farmers.

Francesco was said to be a quiet, religious child and at the age of five
dedicated his life to God. When not tending sheep near the rented family farm
in Piana Romana, his days were spent in quiet prayer. As a youth he experienced
heavenly visions and ecstasies and at an early age began to inflict penances on
himself. Preferring not to use his bed, which he considered to be too
comfortable, his mother would often find him asleep on the floor in the
morning, having used a stone for a pillow.

On 22 January 1903, at the age of fifteen, Francesco entered the novitiate of
the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Unfortunately due to Padre Pio’s on-going
poor health he was not able to stay within the religious community. Between
late 1910 and early 1916 he was permitted to live near his family in
Pietrelcina, while still retaining the Capuchin Habit.

During this time he celebrated Mass, heard confessions and taught school. He
would often spend time praying in the countryside near the farm at Piana
Romana. It was there on 7 Sept 1910, while deep in prayer, that Jesus and Mary
approached him and gave him the wounds of Christ, the Stigmata. He was
terrified by the phenomenon and begged the Lord to withdraw them. He did not
wish the pain to be removed, only the visible wounds.

In 1916 Padre Pio was ordered to return to community life and was assigned to
San Giovanni Rotondo, located in the Gargano Mountains of Italy in the province
of Foggia. With the exception of a year spent in the Italian army, Padre Pio
would spend the remainder of his life here, at the Friary of La Madonna della
Grazie.

On the 5th, 6th and 7th of August, 1918 Padre Pio began to experience the
phenomenon of transverberation. In a letter from Padre Pio to Padre Benedetto,
dated August 21, 1918, Padre Pio writes of his experiences during the
transverberation:

“While I was hearing the boys’ confessions on the evening of the 5th (of
August) I was suddenly terrorized by the sight of a celestial person who
presented himself to my mind’s eye. He had in his hand a sort of weapon like a
very long sharp-pointed steel blade which seemed to emit fire. At the very
instant that I saw all this, I saw that person hurl the weapon into my soul
with all his might. I cried out with difficulty and felt I was dying. I asked
the boy to leave because I felt ill and no longer had the strength to continue.
This agony lasted uninterruptedly until the morning of the 7th. I cannot tell
you how much I suffered during this period of anguish. Even my entrails were
torn and ruptured by the weapon, and nothing was spared. From that day on I
have been mortally wounded. I feel in the depths of my soul a wound that is
always open and which causes me continual agony.”

On 20 September 1918, as Padre Pio was engaged in prayer in the choir loft in
the Chiesa Madonna della Grazie, the same Being who had appeared to him and
given him the transverberation, and who is believed to be the Wounded Christ,
appeared again and Padre Pio had another experience of religious ecstasy. When
the ecstasy ended, Padre Pio had received the Visible Stigmata, the five wounds
of Christ. This time, however, the stigmata were permanent and would stay on
him for the next fifty years of his earthly life.

Though Padre Pio would have preferred to suffer in secret, by early 1919, news
about the stigmatic friar began to spread in the secular world. People from
around the world began to flock to San Giovanni Rotondo, approximately 8
million pilgrims per year. In his lifetime he reconciled thousands of
Christians back to their faith through confession and prayer.In addition to the
Stigmata, he was also blessed with the gifts of healing, bi-location,
levitation, the ability to read hearts and souls, and the gift of tongues.

Padre Pio loved people, loving them truly as God’s children and as his own
brothers and sisters. For this reason he devoted much of his life to prayer and
became “the scapegoat” of his fellow-beings to ensure their spiritual
well-being.

In order to soothe physical pain and wounds, he set up his very own “cathedral
of charity” known as the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” or “House for the
Relief of Suffering” in San Giovanni Rotondo. The first stone of the hospital
was laid on May 1947 and the doors of the wards were opened 26 July 1954. The
spirit and aim of Padre Pio in building the hospital, as in all his work, was
the spirit motivated by his love and charity. It is considered one of the most
modern and efficient hospitals in all of Italy.

On 23 September 1968, at the age of eighty-one, Padre Pio returned to God,
with his rosary in his hands. His last words were “Gesú, Maria…” By the time of
his burial, all visible marks of the Stigmata had disappeared. He was canonized
on 16 June 2002 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy.

Feast Day: 23 September
Patron Saint of: Civil defense volunteers, Pietrelcina, those suffering from
stress and physical pain.