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SAINT OF THE MONTH
St. Padre Pio
(Francesco Forgione)
Francesco Forgione was born on May 25, 1887
in town of Pietrelcina. He was the fourth child of Grazio and
Peppa De Nunzio. He had a vocation for monastic life from early
childhood. At the age of 16, he left home and entered the novitiate
of the Capuchin friars where he took the name Pio.
Soon he made solemn vows and he was ordained
in 1910. During his schooling he experienced pain and illness
but he did not show it. The longest period of his illness lasted
from May 1909 until February 1916. He often returned home to
strengthen his health. Apart from illness, he also suffered
spiritually. In 1914, he was sent to the monastery in San Giovanni
Rotondo. This was a time of particular spiritual growth for
him.
During a thanksgiving after a holy Mass on
September 20, 1918, bleeding wounds appeared on his hands, feet
and side. He had previously received the stigmata, but then
they had disappeared after some time. The stigmata that appeared
this time stayed with him until the end of his life. Padre Pio
never sought or wanted the extraordinary phenomena God granted
upon him.
Padre Pio gained fame as a great confessor
and spiritual guide. Thanks to him many people were converted
and took the holy communion. San Giovanni Rotondo had no hospital.
It had been founded in 1925 in the former Poor Clares nunnery
but destroyed in an earthquake in 1938. Padre Pio decided to
build a larger hospital named House for the Relief of Suffering.
He put forward the idea in 1940 and the project’s implementation
started soon after.
Padre Pio died on September 23, 1968. He
was beatified by John Paul II in 1999, and in 2002 he was canonized.
Feast day: September 23rd
A stigmatic
Reference: Ordinary People, Extraordinary
Lives As a stigmatic, Padre Pio knew all about suffering. He
was one of the chosen few who understood that suffering brings
one closer to God. A modern hospital called the House for the
Relief of Suffering was his life’s work.
The idea of building a hospital came upon
him suddenly on January 9, 1940. Padre Pio took out a golden
coin that he had received from a pilgrim, placed it on the table
in front of his friends and said, “Can I be the first
one who makes a donation for a hospital?”
In the middle of 1990, at the initiative
of people from different Polish cities, the Founding Committee
of the Padre Pio Charitable Society was established. The Society’s
goals include:
• helping the sick, suffering and destitute;
• developing cooperation with charity
institutions and welfare centers;
• building brotherly bonds with the
poorest and needy.
Regional branches have been created throughout
Poland.
SAINT OF THE MONTH
St. Eustochium
Eustochium Julia was born in Rome, the third
of four daughters of a wealthy family. Both parents - Toxotius,
her father, and Paula, her mother - were pagans. The death of
her father in 379 caused a crisis in Eustochium’s family.
Thrown into an inconsolable grief, Paula went through a religious
conversion. Eustochium, who seems to have been the closes of
the children to her mother, soon followed and also became a
Christian.
Most of what we know about the rest of Eustochium’s
life comes from the letters of Jerome, a future saint. Jerome
arrived in Rome in 382, and became Eustochium’s teacher
and spiritual guide. Around age 14 or 15, the young Eustochium
announced that she decided to make a vow of perpetual virginity.
Eustochium and her mother joined a group
of Christian women who accompanied Jerome on a pilgrimage to
Palestine. They visited Antioch, Egypt, and Jerusalem before
settling in Bethlehem. There, the women set up several monasteries.
Eustochium also helped Jerome, whose eyesight was failing, with
his translation of the Bible into Latin, known as the Vulgate.
After her mother died in 404, a grief-stricken
Eustochium took over as leader of the monasteries, which were
nearly bankrupt. With quiet courage, she kept the community
together while she raised money from friends and family. But
in 416, bandits burned down the houses and even attacked the
women. Devastated, Eustochium died three years later.
Feast day: September 28th
Inspiration to the Ursuline Congregation
Reference: Ordinary People, Extraordinary
Lives
Eustochium worked hard to overcome difficulties
in her community. Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty (MadCAAP),
of Pearl, Mississippi is a group that follows Eustochium’s
example. MadCAAP is the brainchild of Sister Grace Mary McGuire,
a member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity,
a Philadelphia-based Order. Through MadCAAP, McGuire has organized
the residents of Madison County:
• To raise money and volunteers to provide
better housing for the poor.
• To purchase older houses, which are
rehabilitated into good-quality homes.
MadCAAP also helps in times of disaster.
In 1988, community resident Willie Anderson’s house was
destroyed by fire. Soon after, MadCAAP replaced it with a refurbished
wood-frame house hauled to the site.
Like Eustochium, Sr. Grace Mary realized
that communities need to band together. You can follow St. Grace
Mary’s example by opening the door of friendship to your
neighbor and supporting those in need.
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