Padre Pio’s sufferings

One of the main reasons that the devil hated Padre Pio so much is that he was winning so many souls through his sufferings.  He often remarked on the extent of these astounding sufferings:

Padre Pio: “The heavenly Father has not ceased to allow me to share in the sufferings of his Only-Begotten Son, even physically.  These pains are so acute as to be absolutely indescribable and inconceivable.”[1]

Padre Pio said that his sufferings could be compared “to that which the martyrs experienced when burned alive or brutally put to death when giving witness to their faith in Jesus Christ.”[2]

Padre Pio, November 25, 1915: “My condition is becoming unbearable and I remain alive only by a miracle.”[3]

Padre Pio, Letter, November 3, 1915: “The Lord caused me to experience the pains the damned endure in the infernal regions.”[4]

Padre Pio, Letter, August  13, 1916: “…I am not exaggerating when I say that the souls in purgatory certainly suffer no greater pain.”[5]

Padre Pio: “…I am suffering immensely and I feel I am dying at all times.”[6]

Speaking to a person about some of his physical sufferings, Padre Pio said: “It is not so much the days.  You see, when the events of the day begin, one thing carries me on to the next, and so the day passes.  It is the nights.  If I ever allow myself to sleep, the pain of these (and he held up his wounded hands to indicate the stigmata) is multiplied beyond measure.”[7]

Responding to a person who asked him if his stigmata hurt, Padre Pio replied: “Do you think that the Lord gave them to me for a decoration?”[8]

Padre Pio: “Just imagine the anguish that I felt then and I still experience practically every day.  The wound in the heart bleeds abundantly…”[9]  “…I have been aware that there is in me something that feels like a sheet of iron that extends from the bottom part of my heart to the lower right side of my back.  It causes very sharp pain and doesn’t let me get any rest…”[10]

Padre Pio refused all types of artificial heat, gas or electric heaters, even charcoal heat for the cold winter nights.[11]

One time Padre Pio went for twenty-one days without eating.  He only received Holy Communion.  “You must eat,” said the superior.  “Please, I cannot eat.”  “You must,” the superior insisted and within minutes Padre Pio vomited everything he tried.[12]  Padre Pio often had a lack of appetite, spells of vomiting and perspiring.  He had periods of high fever that baffled all the doctors, who didn’t know how to treat him.[13]

Some of Padre Pio’s temperatures were so high that the mercury shot out of the thermometer.  Some ordinary thermometers broke under his armpit.[14]  On one occasion, using a different thermometer that didn’t break, his temperature came out to 127.4 degrees Fahrenheit.[15]

The temperatures in excess of 125 degrees Fahrenheit would sometimes come on without any reason whatsoever.  Fr. Michaelangelo, a Franciscan who lived with him, said: “No ordinary thermometer could measure Padre Pio’s temperature…I was present once when the doctor wanted to take his temperature and see if it would break his thermometer.  Padre Pio said: ‘No, the thermometer will break!’  In an instant, ‘Bang!  The mercury shot up and broke it immediately.”[16]

One doctor, who was speaking to another doctor about Padre Pio’s high temperatures, stated: “When I took his temperature, it went right off the scale.  I had to have a special thermometer sent down, and it registered 125 degrees last night and 120 degrees this morning.  He shouldn’t even be alive.”[17]

Padre Pio said about suffering: “No suffering borne out of love for Christ, even poorly borne, will go unrewarded in eternal life.  Trust and hope in the merits of Jesus and in this way even poor clay will become finest gold which will shine in the palace of the king of heaven.”[18]

Our Lord once spoke to Padre Pio about his sufferings in the following manner: “My son, I need victims in order to appease my Father’s justifiable and divine anger: renew your sacrifice and make it without reservations.”[19]

Padre Pio: “If people would only understand the value of suffering, they would not seek pleasure, but only to suffer.”[20]

Padre Pio also complained of problems with blindness as far back as November 18, 1912.[21]  On January 30, 1915, Padre Pio wrote: “…my sight…has improved from time to time.”[22]

Padre Pio had an additional suffering of being drafted into military service for a period of time, despite the incredibly terrible state of his physical health.[23] 

Another suffering (although not physical) was the fact that although God often made clear the status of the souls of others, Padre Pio remained in the dark about his own soul.[24]  Padre Pio said: “In other souls, through the grace of God, I see clearly, but in my own I see nothing but darkness.”[25]