THE APPARITIONS OF THE SOULS OF THE PURGATORY IN PADRE PIO

The apparitions began already at an early age. Little Francesco Forgione (future Padre Pio) did not talk about it because he believed that they were things that happened to all souls. The apparitions were of Angeli, of Saints, of Jesus, of the Madonna, but at times, also of demons. In the last days of December 1902, while he was meditating on his vocation, Francis had a vision. Here is how he described it, several years later, to his confessor (he uses the third person in the letter).

Francesco saw at his side a majestic man of rare beauty, shining like the sun, who took him by the hand and met him with the precise invitation: "Come with me because you should fight as a brave warrior".

He was led into a very spacious countryside, among a multitude of men divided into two groups: on the one hand men with a beautiful face and covered in white robes, as white as snow, on the other men of hideous appearance and dressed in black clothes like dark shadows. The young man placed between those two wings of spectators was seen to meet a man of immense height to touch the clouds with his forehead, with a hideous face. The resplendent character he had at his side urged him to fight with the monstrous character. Francesco prayed to be spared from the fury of the strange character, but the bright one did not accept: “Your resistance is in vain, with this it is better to fight. Come ahead, enter confident in the struggle, boldly advance that I will be near you; I will help you and I will not allow it to bring you down. "

The clash was accepted and was terrible. With the help of the luminous character always close, Francesco got the better and won. The monstrous character, forced to flee, dragged behind that great multitude of men of horrid appearance, amid screams, curses and cries to be stunned. The other multitude of men with a very vague appearance, gave voices of applause and praise to the one who had assisted poor Francesco, in such a bitter battle.

The splendid and luminous personage more than the sun placed a crown of very rare beauty on the head of the victorious Francesco, which it would be vain to describe. The chorus was immediately withdrawn by the good person who specified: “I keep another more beautiful one for you. If you will be able to fight with that character with whom you have now fought. He will always return to the assault ...; fight as a valiant man and do not hesitate to help me ... do not be afraid of his harassment, do not fear his formidable presence. I will be close to you, I will always help you, so that you can prostrate it. "

This vision was followed, then, by real clashes with the evil one. In fact, Padre Pio sustained numerous clashes against the "enemy of souls" over the course of his life, with the intention of strap-seeming souls from the laces of Satan.

One evening Padre Pio was resting in a room on the ground floor of the convent, used as a guesthouse. He was alone and had just stretched out on the cot when suddenly a man wrapped in a black cloak wheel appeared. Padre Pio, surprised, getting up, asked the man who he was and what he wanted. The stranger replied that he was a soul of the Pur-gatorio. “I am Pietro Di Mauro. I died in a fire, on September 18, 1908, in this convent used, after the expropriation of ecclesiastical goods, as a hospice for old people. I died in the flames, in my straw mattress, surprised in my sleep, right in this room. I come from Purgatory: the Lord has allowed me to come and ask you to apply your Holy Mass to me in the morning. Thanks to this Mes-sa I will be able to enter Heaven “.

Padre Pio assured that he would apply his Mass to him ... but here are the words of Padre Pio: “I wanted to accompany him to the door of the convent. I fully realized that I had only spoken to a deceased when I went out into the churchyard, the man who was at my side suddenly disappeared. I must confess that I went back to the convent somewhat frightened. To Father Paolino da Casacalenda, Superior of the convent, to whom my agitation had not escaped, I asked permission to celebrate Holy Mass in suffrage for that year, after, of course, explaining what had happened to him ".

A few days later, Father Paolino, intrigued, wanted to do some checks. Having gone to the registry of the Municipality of San Giovanni Rotondo, he requested and obtained permission to consult the register of the deceased in the year 1908. The story of Padre Pio corresponded to the truth. In the register relating to the deaths of the month of September, Father Paolino traced the name, the dream and the reason for his death: "On September 18, 1908, Pietro di Mauro died in the fire of the hospice, he was Nicola".

Cleonice Morcaldi, spiritual daughter so dear to the Father, one month after the death of her mother, was heard by Padre Pio at the end of the Confession: “This morning your mom flew to Heaven, I saw her while I was celebrating the Mass. "

This other episode was told by Padre Pio to Father Anastasio. One evening, while I was alone in the choir praying, I heard the rustle of a dress and saw a young friar trafficking at the main altar, as if dusting the candelabra and arranging the flower holders. Convinced that to rearrange the altar, Frà Leone, since it was dinner time, I went to the balustrade and said: "Frà Leone, go to dinner, it is not time to dust and fix the altar ". But a voice, which was not that of Brother Leo answers me "," I am not Brother Leo "," And who are you? ", I ask.

“I am a confrere of yours who makes the novitiate here. Obedience gave me the responsibility to keep the high altar clean and tidy during the trial year. Although too many times I disrespected the sacramented Jesus passing in front of the altar without revering the Blessed Sacrament preserved in the Tabernacle. For this serious lack, I am still in Purgatory. Now the Lord, in his infinite goodness, sends me to you so that you can decide until when I will have to suffer in that flames of love. Help me".

“I, believing that I am a son-in-law to that suffering soul, e-exclaimed: You will stay until Mass in the morning. That soul screamed: Cru-dele! Then he shouted loudly and disappeared. That lament caused me a heart injury that I have heard and will feel all my life. I, who by divine delegation could have sent that soul immediately to Heaven, sent her to stay another night in the flames of Purgatory ".

The apparitions for Padre Pio could be considered daily, so as to allow the Capuchin friar to live simultaneously in two worlds: one visible and one invisible, supernatural.

Padre Pio himself, confessed in his letters to his spiritual director, some experiences: Lett-tera to Padre Agostino of April 7, 1913: “My dear Father, Friday morning I was still in bed when Jesus appeared to me. He was all battered and disfigured. He showed me a great multitude of Sa-cerdotes, among whom various ecclesiastical dignitaries, of whom who were celebrating, who was parrying and who was getting undressed by the sacred garments.

The sight of Jesus in distress made me very sorry, so I wanted to ask him why he suffered so much. No answer n'eb-bi. But his gaze brought me to those priests; but shortly thereafter, almost horrified and as if tired of looking, he withdrew his gaze and when he raised it up to me, to my horror, I observed two tears that streaked his cheeks.

He moved away from that crowd of Sacer-doti with a great expression of discomfort on his face, shouting: “Butchers! And turned to me he said ": 'My son, do not believe that my agony was three hours, no; I will be by reason of the souls most benefited by me, in agony until the end of the world. During the time of agony, my son, one must not sleep. My soul goes in search of a few drops of human piety, but alas they leave me alone under the weight of indifference.

The ingratitude and sleep of my ministers make my agony more difficult. How badly they correspond to my love! What afflicts me most and which these to their indifferentism, add their contempt, unbelief. How many times I was there to electrocute them, if I had not been held back by the angels and souls in love with me ... Write to your Father and tell him what you saw and heard from me this morning. Tell him to show your letter to the provincial Father ... ". Jesus continued again, but what he said I will never be able to reveal to any creature of this world "(FATHER PIO: Epistolario I ° -1910-1922).

Letter to Father Augustine dated February 13, 1913: "... Don't be afraid I will make you suffer, but I will also give you the strength - Jesus repeats to me -. I desire that your soul with daily occult martyrdom be purified and tested; do not be afraid if I allow the devil to torment you, in the world to disgust you, because nothing will prevail against those who manage under the Cross for my love and that I have worked to protect them "(FATHER PIO: Epistola- rio I ° 1910-1922).

Letter to Father Augustine of March 12, 1913: “… Hear, my Father, the righteous complaints of our most sweet Jesus: With how much ingra-titudine my love for men is repaid! I would have been less offended by them if I had loved them less. My Father no longer wants to endure them. I would like to stop loving them, but ... (and here Jesus was silent and sighed, and afterwards he resumed) but hey! My heart is made to love!

Cowardly and weak men do not do any violence to overcome temptations, which in fact delight in their iniquities. My favorite souls, put to the test, fail me, the weak ones abandon themselves to exhaustion and despair, the strong ones gradually relax. They leave me alone at night, only during the day in the churches.

They no longer care about the sacrament of the altar; one never speaks of this sacrament of love; and even those who talk about it alas! with how much indifference, with what coldness. My heart is forgotten; nobody cares about my love anymore; I am always a contri-state.

My home has become for many an amusement theater; also my mini-strikes which I have always looked at with pre-lessons, which I have loved as a pupil of my eye; they should comfort my Heart full of bitterness; they should help me in the redemption of souls, but who would believe it? From them I must receive ingratitude and ignorance.

I see, my son, many of these who ... (here it subsided, the sobs tightened his throat, he wept secretly) that under hypocritical features they betray me with sacrilegious Communions, trampling on the lights and the forces that I continually give to them ... "( FATHER PIO 1st: Epistolary 1st -1910-1922).