I believe St Padre Pio’s offering of his life was much more than a morning offering. I believe he lived the Gospel in word, deed and prayer, in the prayer of his life , to such an extent Christ Jesus was manifest in him evidenced by the Sacred Wounds of Jesus St Padre Pio bore in his flesh. Similarly this is also true of St Francis he gave his life to Jesus so profoundly he too bore the Sacred Wounds of Jesus in his flesh.
This union between St Padre Pio and Jesus led to every second, every aspect of his life being a prayer and truly sanctified and a perfect offering in the sight of Jesus.
Further to this so dead to ‘self’ St Padre Pio and St Francis were now dead to the world also and so rising above the world they stood between the world and heaven as a martyr of prayer, continual martyrdom of self that became manifest in them by the gift of the Sacred Wounds of Jesus as a true sign of God’s salvific work in them. Growing not out of love with the world, they grew more in love with God’s creation because they had risen above it to view it clearly and spent their everyday as an offering to Jesus, as a martyr for the world in the Living Prayer of their lives.
Last night I was reading somewhere in the OT, perhaps Maccabees, I can’t remember, I filpped around quite a bit last night and was awake quite late into the small hours as usual. But in this God was admonishing the Priests of the OT for their imperfect sacrifice. God was saying, you offer me lame animals which you wouldn’t give to an earthly king. This struck me, if we are to offer our ‘self’ to God then it is true that He will perfect the sacrifice and this is why Living Prayer is not only an offering of self but a path that leads to perfection.So where we are lame in the prayer of our life we are made to leap and run.
It stands to reason then that what St Padre Pio was offering God especially at the end of his life was a perfected offering by God’s grace and this kind of offering can indeed avert many calamities and chastisements (indeed it is a penance for every thing that is evil and takes place on the earth carries a penance whether it be personal or communal) because no-one is perfected unless they suffer, die to self, are purged, go to Calvary, suffer many trials and in this are conformed to the likeness of Christ Jesus.
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‘Though He (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered’**
In the Living Prayer of my life
