Padre Pio Prayer Group, Lancaster, PA

As we move through the Advent season and prepare for the coming of Jesus on Christmas, let us take a moment to reflect on Padre Pio’s experiences and actions during this time of the year.

​

Christmas was always one of Padre Pio’s favorite times. Even as a child, he would be begin preparing for Christmas very early. For him it was not purchasing, making, or receiving gifts, but honoring Christ. He began constructing the family Nativity scene in October, sculpting the figures of the Holy Family from clay he dug himself while tending the family’s livestock. He would light the scene with small oil lamps that he created from snail shells.

​

As he became a priest, his devotion only grew. As a priest at San Giovanno Rotondo, Padre Pio had the straw-filled manger holding the carved figure of the Baby Jesus placed where he could see it from the confessional. During the long hours he spent hearing confessions, his eyes would remain focused on the little figure in the manger.

​

Padre Pio’s involvement with the Baby Jesus extended beyond the carved symbol of the Savior as a baby. His experiences at times were much deeper and miraculous. Numerous times he was seen, deep in prayer, shuffling along the corridors of the Monastery late at night and carrying Jesus in his arms. This was no wood carving, but an actual live, happy baby emanating an aura of light. It was truly Jesus himself. One of those who saw Padre Pio in this state was Father Raffaele da Sant’Elia, who was beatified by Pope Francis in April 0f 2019. Concealed in a doorway, Father Raffaele fell to his knees as Padre Pio and Jesus passed by. The saint was deep in prayerful ecstasy and never even noticed Father Raffaele’s presence. Those who saw Padre Pio holding the Baby Jesus all reported that the saint himself was radiant with joy, but if he spotted them watching, the Baby disappeared, much to Padre Pio’s despair.

​

Padre Pio wrote of his feelings of the Christmas season. He wrote:

​

 “When the Holy Novena began in honor of the Baby Jesus, it felt as though my spirit were being born again to a new life. I felt as though my heart were too small to embrace all our heavenly blessings. My soul felt as though it were disintegrating in the presence of our God who had become man. How can we not love Him forever with a fervor that never grows stale? Let us open our hearts to the Baby Jesus whose soul was without the stain of sin and we will taste how sweet and sublime it is to love Him.”

​

The supernatural events experienced by Padre Pio highlight the deep love the saint had for God. His love was “marked by simplicity and humility, and by a heart wide open to receive whatever heavenly graces God had planned for him.” His openness allowed God to show his love for Padre Pio by showing him His Son as a vulnerable baby, as well as daily in the Eucharist.

​

In the Christmas season, let us see around the Christmas lights and beyond the commercialism of the secular world and open our hearts to receive the Baby Jesus on Christmas day as Padre Pio did, and let God’s unfathomable love overcome us and guide us.