Saint Pio of Pietrelcina’s love for the Most Holy Virgin began “at dawn, on May 26, 1887, when he was baptized at the feet of the image of Our Lady of the Angels in Pietrelcina: a love that later shone brilliantly throughout the long course of his life and that was hidden in the night of September 22–23, 1968, also beneath Mary’s gaze.
His mother, Mrs. Giuseppa, was the one who kindled in the heart of the child Francesco Forgione that living flame of love for Mary.
Throughout his life he carried with him a small picture of the Patroness of his town, Our Lady of La Libera; he always kept it hanging on one of the walls of his cell.
The Arch of the Virgin is still preserved in Pietrelcina, before whose image the child Forgione would stop to greet the Mother of God whenever he passed beneath it. It is also remembered how that young and devout religious, wherever he happened to be during his stay in Pietrelcina, prayed the Angelus Domini at the sound of the bell.”
We recall some of his expressions of trust and affection toward the Virgin Mary:
“How many times I entrusted to this Mother the painful anxieties of my troubled heart, and how many times she consoled me!
In my great afflictions, having no longer a mother on this earth of sorrows, I cannot forget that I have a most loving and merciful one in Heaven.
Poor little Mother of mine! How much she loves me! I have come to realize it many times, in a most eloquent way, at the dawn of this beautiful month of May.
With what care she accompanied me to the altar this morning! It seemed as though she had nothing else to think about except me, in order to fill my heart with holy affections!”
On August 15, 1929, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, while celebrating Holy Mass, he had this vision:
“This morning I ascended the altar, I scarcely know how! Physical sufferings and interior tribulations competed with one another over which might torment my poor being more. Then, at the moment of consuming the Sacred Species of Bread, I was invaded from head to foot, throughout my entire being, by a sudden light, and I clearly saw the Heavenly Lady with her Son, a little Child in her arms, and she said to me: ‘Be at peace! We are with you! You belong to us, and we belong to you!’ After hearing this, I saw nothing more. Throughout the whole day I felt immersed in an ocean of sweetness and indescribable love.”
“When I find myself in the presence of the Virgin and of Jesus:
I feel as though I were consumed by a pure fire; I feel myself closely united to the Son of God through His own Mother, without seeing how the chains that bind me to them are made, yet they hold me most tightly; a thousand flames consume me; I feel as though I were continually dying, and yet I live!”
“I wish I had a voice so strong that with it I could invite all the sinners of the world to love Mary. I wish I had wings to fly everywhere and invite all creatures to love Jesus and Mary.”
How did Saint Pio of Pietrelcina pray to the Blessed Virgin?
“Listen, Mammina! I do not mind that You look at me like this. I already love You more than all the creatures of Heaven and earth—after Jesus, of course. But I love You very much!”
One day, after Holy Communion, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him with all her maternal tenderness, and Padre Pio exclaimed:
“Ah! Dear Mammina! At last I see Your eyes! They are looking at me! And how beautiful they are! Jesus was right. Yes! You are beautiful! If faith did not oppose it, men would call You GODDESS. Your eyes shine more brightly than the sun. O my Mammina, I glory in You! I love You! But ah! Help me, for I already know that it is Jesus’ will that I go there; help me, my beloved Mammina!”
He incessantly importuned the Blessed Virgin with novenas, rosaries, supplications, and prayers of every kind.
How many Rosaries did Padre Pio pray?
“Who could count,” wrote Father Francesco Napoletano, a religious who lived many years with Padre Pio, “the rosaries he prayed throughout the span of such a long and wonderful life? He always carried the rosary with him, either wrapped around his hand or arm, as though it were a string of pearls or a shield of defense.”
He had rosaries everywhere: under his pillow, on the bedside table, in his pockets—everywhere. He was the religious of the rosary. He regarded the rosary as his favorite weapon against every kind of enemy.
On one occasion, while he was ill and bedridden, he noticed that his rosary had gone missing. He said to the friar:
“Listen! Listen! Look carefully and see whether you can find my weapon. Bring me the weapon immediately!”
The friar soon understood that he was referring to the rosary.
Praying the rosary was his favorite prayer; he recited it continually, mystery after mystery. Every available moment he devoted to praying the rosary. He left written:
“Daily I shall recite no fewer than five complete rosaries.”
With a happy expression he came to be called “the insatiable devourer of rosaries.”
A few days before his death, certain devotees asked him:
“Father, what could you tell us now? What do you recommend to us?”
He answered:
“Love Our Lady and make her loved! Pray the rosary; pray it always. Pray it as often as you can! It is true that Satan reigns in the world, but he reigns because others allow him to reign. Can a spirit dominate anyone by itself if it does not unite itself to the free wills of men? Whoever prays much is certainly saved. Whoever prays little is in danger of not being saved, and whoever does not pray at all is on the road to perdition! The prayer of the rosary is the prayer that triumphs over everything and everyone. Mary herself taught us this, just as Jesus taught us the Our Father.”
On one occasion, Bishop Monsignor Paul Corta visited Padre Pio together with a friend, an officer in the Italian army. The bishop jokingly asked Padre Pio for a ticket to Paradise for the soldier. Smiling, Padre Pio replied:
“Ah! Yes! Yes! With great pleasure. To enter Paradise something very important is required! One must have the entrance ticket to the Blessed Virgin. If this is obtained, then everything is obtained. She is the Gate of Heaven. And the ticket that allows entrance into Heaven is the Holy Rosary. This is the ticket. Take then, take the ticket to enter Heaven,” he said to the soldier while handing him a rosary.
It is very likely that Padre Pio died seeing the Queen of Heaven herself present. He spent the last moments of his life resting with difficulty on a sofa in his cell. Hanging on the nearby wall before his eyes were the portrait of his mother and the small picture of Our Lady of La Libera.
Father Pellegrino, who was assisting him at that moment, sought to comfort him by reminding him how good his own mother had been, whose portrait stood before him.
“Yes! Yes!” he replied laboriously. “Yes! I see her already, do not worry! Ah! There I see not one, but two mothers!”
