Padre Pio against Satan
A book that narrates the battle waged
all his life by an extraordinary sain
Translated from
December 10, 2017
Marco Tosatti – and Stilum Curiae – speaking on my own behalf: Allow me please to point out a book that has just been published. Since November 30 , it has been on sale on Amazon and its online sites, as well as that of the publisher Chora Books, and will not be available in bookstores for years. It recounts the extraordinary relationship between one of the greatest saints of the 20th century, Padre Pio, and the enemy of human nature, its adversary par excellence, the devil.
It is not a long book, but I am very fond of it, because it was the fruit of long research into the memories of those who knew the saint, and the greater part of its material comes from original sources that are difficult to come by for consultation - namely, the eight volumes of the Positio, an enormous mass of testimonies and documents which were presented in the course of the process for the beatification and canonization of the saint from Gargano.
The battle ended only when Padre Pio’s earthly life came to an end: “a duel from ancient times that took place in the century just past”, a real battle, “a prolonged one-on-one throughout his existence between a monk and his Enemy”.
There are numerous extraordinary episodes in this battle. Among this is one in whcih the protagonist was one of the saint’s most faithful followers, he celebrated exorcist of venerated memory, Fr. Gabriel Amorth who died recently.
But before he did, he told the story of how Angelo Battisti, the first administrator and president of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza that Padre Pio established in the town of San Giovanni Rotonda
[it is now one of the best tertiary care hospitals in Europe], had been possessed by the devil in the final years of his life. Fr. Amorth, with whose friendship I was honored, knew Padre Pio personally and had great veneration for him.
In the book, I chose to concentrate only on the apparitions and diabolical manifestations – some of them quite physical and corporeal – experienced by Padre Pio. I also refer to the ecstasies and celestial visions that ofen followed closely these bouts with the devil, and which, I believe, were closely connected to the spiritual battle fought to the quick.
A battle that continued to the end of Padre Pio’s life. I think his adversary never let up on him. I close this post by quoting the final lines of the book:
The hero of an epic should die with his ord in hand. Padre Pio had such a weapon. He revealed what it was a few days before he died.
Fr Tarciso of Cervinara narrates that one day, as he was going to bed, he told his broher monks who were n the cell with him, “Give me my weapon”. And the monks, surprised and curious asked, “What weapon? We do not see anything”.
He said: “It’s in my cassock which you just hung up”. So the friarsm, after having turned al he pockets inside out, said, “Father, there is no weapon in your robe. The only thing here is a rosary”. He answered, “And is this not a weapon? The true weapon?”
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/12/2017 04:27]