L
La-Petite-Fleur
Guest
I read that Padre Pio prayed 36 Rosaries a day, and heard confessions up to 12 to 18 hours a day. How did he have time to eat? Did God keep him from collapsing?
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J
JCPhoenix
Guest
I’m not sure if there is an actual answer for this.
I have taken this into the context first that the rosary is a meditative prayer…and so those who say it frequently or constantly have the ability to do other things while praying.
It’s second nature to them so they can “multi-task”.
As far as eating…I know Padre Pio suffered immensly, and likely at times he could not eat. Have you heard the stories of some of the saints who have subsisted on communion alone? (sorry, I can’t cite any direct references off the top of my head). A Protestant Pastor I know actually knows these stories and believes them, by the way. (still can’t figure out why he hasn’t come “home”)
There are some parts of the lives of the saints which we will never understand…something like additional sacred mysteries, akin to the ecstacies experienced by St. Therese of Avila…can’t be explained in words.
I have taken this into the context first that the rosary is a meditative prayer…and so those who say it frequently or constantly have the ability to do other things while praying.
It’s second nature to them so they can “multi-task”.
As far as eating…I know Padre Pio suffered immensly, and likely at times he could not eat. Have you heard the stories of some of the saints who have subsisted on communion alone? (sorry, I can’t cite any direct references off the top of my head). A Protestant Pastor I know actually knows these stories and believes them, by the way. (still can’t figure out why he hasn’t come “home”)
There are some parts of the lives of the saints which we will never understand…something like additional sacred mysteries, akin to the ecstacies experienced by St. Therese of Avila…can’t be explained in words.
P
paramedicgirl
Guest
There are lots of great books on Padre Pio. My favourite book was published in 2004 “The Holy Man on the Mountain” by Frank Regga.
Most of the books say that Padre Pio prayed the Rosary constantly and always interjected prayers for individuals while praying the Rosary.
I also read how Padre Pio turned away food that people prepared specially for him, giving it away to those less fortunate.
So yes, I think God gave him special graces to keep him constantly at prayer and in the confessional. It’s very common to read that the saints go without much food for extended periods, sometimes years.
J
Jenlyn
Guest
Some sites on Padre Pio:
padrepio.catholicwebservices.com/ENGLISH/ENGLISH_index.htm
ewtn.com/padrepio/mystic/general.htm
padrepio.catholicwebservices.com/ENGLISH/ENGLISH_index.htm
ewtn.com/padrepio/mystic/general.htm
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IesusDeus
Guest
I read in one biography that he had normally less than 2 hours of sleep every day. A normal day for him was a busy 19 hours.
S
St.Curious
Guest
St. Felix was a hermit who sustained on water, wheat, and the eucharist alone.
M
mpav
Guest
Our pastor spoke about St. pio this morning. He recalled that Pio could bring the Eucharist to some while hearing the confessions of others at the same time. Maybe it was this bilocation that enabled him to attend to all his duties in the limited time we have in a day, and still have time to eat. Maybe he didn’t need to eat.
From one who knew him:
padrepio.com/app10.html
"As I visited the monastery, the years seemed to vanish! It seemed like only yesterday since I’d dined with Padre Pio.
Padre Agostino often invited me to eat with the priests and brothers at the monastery. I was very privileged, since lay people are not permitted in the dining room. But he was the Superior, and he could make the rules as well as change them, as he did so often for me.
At the dinner table, he always seated me next to Padre Pio, on his right side. They always served Padre the same portions as the other men, even though he would only eat a very little from the servings. He never ate meat only a little piece of fresh fish on rare occasions. His total intake of food each day would only fill the cup of his hand!
When he was sick, the doctor advised him to eat to get better. With his famous sense of humor, he replied, “If I eat, I lose weight, and if I don’t, I gain weight,” which was factual.
Although his broad shoulders made him look like he weighed 200 lbs. or better, his actual weight varied from 160 to 165 pounds.
When I finished my servings, Padre Pio would take the food from his dish and place it on my dish and say, “Dear Giuseppe, eat up,” and when my wine glass became empty, he would refill it from his bottle of wine saying aloud, saluting me, “Drink up, dear Giuseppe.” All the priests and brothers enjoyed my appetite for good food and wine, which was not exactly like the Army rations I was living on! Padre Pio had a wonderful sense of humor. At the daily dinner table, he always kept the priests and brothers in stitches and tears of laughter. Some had to excuse themselves and would leave the room to stop their sides from hurting from laughter."
From one who knew him:
padrepio.com/app10.html
"As I visited the monastery, the years seemed to vanish! It seemed like only yesterday since I’d dined with Padre Pio.
Padre Agostino often invited me to eat with the priests and brothers at the monastery. I was very privileged, since lay people are not permitted in the dining room. But he was the Superior, and he could make the rules as well as change them, as he did so often for me.
At the dinner table, he always seated me next to Padre Pio, on his right side. They always served Padre the same portions as the other men, even though he would only eat a very little from the servings. He never ate meat only a little piece of fresh fish on rare occasions. His total intake of food each day would only fill the cup of his hand!
When he was sick, the doctor advised him to eat to get better. With his famous sense of humor, he replied, “If I eat, I lose weight, and if I don’t, I gain weight,” which was factual.
Although his broad shoulders made him look like he weighed 200 lbs. or better, his actual weight varied from 160 to 165 pounds.
When I finished my servings, Padre Pio would take the food from his dish and place it on my dish and say, “Dear Giuseppe, eat up,” and when my wine glass became empty, he would refill it from his bottle of wine saying aloud, saluting me, “Drink up, dear Giuseppe.” All the priests and brothers enjoyed my appetite for good food and wine, which was not exactly like the Army rations I was living on! Padre Pio had a wonderful sense of humor. At the daily dinner table, he always kept the priests and brothers in stitches and tears of laughter. Some had to excuse themselves and would leave the room to stop their sides from hurting from laughter."
L
La-Petite-Fleur
Guest
Thank you all for the information! He was truly blessed. To all who left links, I’ve bookmarked this thread so that I can easily check back & view the listed websites. Thank you all!
T
thistle
Guest
Padre Pio is one of my favourites and my Rosary is the Padre Pio Rosary. However, I would think it unlikely he prayed 36 Rosaries each day. Even without the Luminous Mysteries there would be 15 decades to pray for each Rosary and that would take about 45 minutes. If you multiply that by 36 that totals 27 hours.
S
springbreeze
Guest
Dear friends
One thing that can be said with certainity is that time passes by with perception of it, that is some days pass quickly and it seems that the day has flown by and some days pass slowly and seem to go on forever.
When a person has been gifted with an exceptionally prayerful life it can appear as though their time has doubled, it’s a strange thing, but it does happen and I have seen on this board other posters mention this during the time I have been a member of this forum.
St Padre Pio is an extra-ordinary Saint with many supernatural gifts from God, therefore to my mind it does not seem an impossibility that God would utilise St Padre Pio’s time so that indeed this Saint would have been able to pray within a given day to the extent he did and still have time for it within a 24 hour period as well as serve God and his brothers and sisters.
Everything St Padre Pio did was by God’s grace, St Padre Pio being the instrument and servant of God and God performed these works in him.
It is humans who say it is impossible, but it is God who says, with Him, nothing is impossible.
God Bless you and much love and peace to you
Teresa
T
thistle
Guest
I didn’t say it was impossible. I said it was unlikely.
Who would know how many Rosaries Padre Pio prayed each day? Did someone sit beside him counting? It is simply speculation.
As I mentioned Padre Pio is one of my favourite saints and really was an extraordinary man. We know many extraordinary things about him without having speculate.
S
springbreeze
Guest
Dear friend
We would know very little about St Padre Pio’s internal spiritual life at all unless he himself had told someone.
We know St Padre Pio had a deep devotion to our Blessed Virgin Mother Mary and we know he also held a deep devotion to her Most Holy Rosary, such a claim therefore doesn’t seem to be speculation.
His extra-ordinary grace of ministering in the confessional for the amount of hours he did could not have been sustained without prayer and God’s grace.
The speculation part comes really when people ask themselves… did he really do that? I believe he did all of these things and suffered as he did and I believe that because the Church has approved everything about him.
God Bless you and much love and peace to you
Teresa
T
thistle
Guest
I don’t disagree with anything you have said. I simply asked how someone knows he prayed the Rosary 36 times each day. Padre Pio was a humble man and I don’t see him boasting to people how many times he prayed the Rosary. I am absolutely positive he prayed a lot and his devotion to our Blessed Mother is well known. I just feel it would be better to say he prayed the Rosary many times each day than trying to put a specific number on it! The number doesn’t add or take away anything from this great saint.
J
Jayson
Guest
He was able to carry on conversations while still praying the Rosary. Apparantly he was able to remain totally focused on the Rosary and still be able to attend to other things.
M
maryj
Guest
I had never heard a word about Padre Pio up until about a month ago…now I can recall at least 30-40 times in the last few weeks that I’ve heard or read conversations about him…hmmmmmm…interesting
H
Highwayman
Guest
I have heard that Padre Pio had the gift of Bi Location.
That to be in two places at the same time would help some one to multi task. I have trouble doing one thing at a time and being where I need to be with just one body.
I think that this gift of Padre Pio helps us to see how Jesus is present to us In Spirit and also in the flesh in Holy Commuion and is still in Heaven all at the same time. God Bless
That to be in two places at the same time would help some one to multi task. I have trouble doing one thing at a time and being where I need to be with just one body.
I think that this gift of Padre Pio helps us to see how Jesus is present to us In Spirit and also in the flesh in Holy Commuion and is still in Heaven all at the same time. God Bless
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