Padre Pio – the guardian of our home
Padre Pio – no evil spirit has any right of entry to our home
A saint who did not run away from spiritual combat. He experienced real struggles with demons, harassment, suffering and loneliness, and yet he remained faithful to his vocation to the very end.
His life shows that holiness does not consist in gentleness at any price, but in fidelity to the truth and obedience to Christ.
Severe, but never without reason
Padre Pio was severe.
At times downright unpleasant.
He was capable of rebuking penitents, of interrupting a confession, of admonishing sharply.
For a long time I was even afraid of him. I used to think: what would happen if I went to him for confession?
Would he rebuke me harshly for my sins?
Would he read everything that had been left unsaid?
Severe – but never without reason.
His hardness flowed from concern for a person’s salvation, not from a lack of love.
He did not sweeten sin.
He did not force consciences into calm.
He pointed out the road of conversion – even when it was uncomfortable.
A powerful intercessor in every matter
I feel his help most of all during important conversations, especially in English.
I then ask my Guardian Angel that – just as Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel helped him with German or Japanese – he might help me too with translations and difficult conversations.
And it really does work.
For us Padre Pio is an intercessor in difficult matters, in those that call for courage and perseverance.
The patron of a home that is meant to be a place of prayer, but also of responsibility and spiritual vigilance.
We believe that the saints are given to us not in order to enchant us, but to lead us, to inspire us and to warn us.
Padre Pio teaches that the spiritual life is not a sentimental journey, but a real road of the Cross, of prayer and of trust in God – day after day.
A road of deliberately letting your life be „cut into” through suffering accepted.
Many of the faithful pray to Padre Pio, asking for his protection over their home and family.
San Giovanni Rotondo – a place of thanksgiving and of visiting a close Friend
We had the grace of being in San Giovanni Rotondo – of touching the place where Padre Pio lived, of praying at his tomb and of walking the roads he travelled every day.
It was a pilgrimage of gratitude.
We offered thanksgiving for his protection over our home and our marriage, and asked for his continued intercession.
Not for an easy life, but for faithfulness, strength and courage in moments of trial.
„The devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain: beyond the length of that chain he cannot reach anyone. And you, keep your distance too.” Padre Pio.
The greatest danger in this world is the belief that there is no satan, no evil spirits and no hell. In this way we stop fearing that we might not reach Heaven, because if there is no hell, then there is no Heaven either, and everything becomes neutral, tolerant, balanced and lukewarm.
God detests the lukewarm!
„Be sober! Be watchful! Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Pet 5:8)
Entrust your home and your family to the Prayer on the Sycamore and ask for the intercession of Padre Pio.
