Padre Pio feast day celebration starts

CEBU, Philippines – The celebration for the 8th Feast Day of Saint Padre Pio de Pietrelcina started Tuesday with a Novena Mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Pedro Calungsod at the Archbishop Residence Compound.

From Sept. 14 to Sept. 22, the novena mass will be held daily at 6 p.m.

On September 20, a procession will be held at 4 p.m. with devotees gathering at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

The procession will pass from Benedicto Street to Rahman Street to Sikatuna Street and back to the Shrine.

A Pontifical Mass on the feast day will be held at the Sacred Heart Parish Church at 6 p.m. with Bishop Julieto Cortes as the main celebrant. Veneration and kissing of the First Class Relic will follow.

St. Padre Pio de Pietrelcina is the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Catholic Church.

On September 20, 1918, Padre Pio was kneeling in front of a large crucifix when he received the visible marks of the crucifixion that made him the first stigmatized priest.

Upon his death in 1968, the wounds were no longer visible. No scar was found and the skin of Padre Pio was completely renewed.

"From the very beginning, you could clearly see his beard. The upper part of his skull is visible, but his chin is perfect and the rest of his body is well preserved. You could clearly see his hands, knees, mittens and his fingernails," Bishop D'Ambrosio of San Giovanni Rotondo-Manfredonia-Veste recalled.

On June 16, 2002, over 500,000 Padre Pio devotees gathered in Rome to witness Pope John Paul II canonize Padre Pio. (FREEMAN)