As we begin the Lenten season, we often think of ways to improve our spiritual lives.
One way of doing
this is to look at the spiritual advice St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina gave to his early followers.
He used to meet with his spiritual children twice weekly at his friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, to
explain the Bible and advise them on how best to aim for spiritual perfection. He did this principally by
promoting five rules for spiritual growth: daily examination of conscience, Communion, spiritual reading,
meditation and weekly confession.
Regarding daily meditation, he counseled two periods of at least half an hour each day, morning and
evening. These were to be times of reflection and recollection on biblical subjects such as the passion,
death and resurrection of Christ. He advised to begin with a prayer, asking for the grace to meditate well
and for the intercession of Our Lady and all the saints. Then, to “meditate thoroughly on the subject in all
its aspects,” before moving on to resolutions, so as to eliminate defects and promote virtue. We should
also pray for the graces we need and offer up our time of meditation to God.
St. Pio regarded meditation as the key to progress in the spiritual life and the transformation of the soul in
Christ. To make this fruitful, he encouraged a thorough study of the Bible and spiritual books in general,
stating: “If the reading of holy books has the power to convert worldly men into spiritual persons, how
very powerful must such reading be in leading spiritual men and women to greater perfection.”
Padre Pio insisted on weekly confession for his spiritual children because “a room needed to be dusted at
least once a week even if nobody was there.”
Padre Pio was giving this advice in the early 20th century, not long after Pope Pius X had publicly
encouraged frequent Communion, but there was still a tendency for people to think they were unworthy to
do this. St. Pio told his followers that unless they were positive that they had committed mortal sin, then
they ought to receive Communion daily.
Regarding examination of conscience, he urged that people should not go to bed without recalling how
they had spent the day, and before turning their thoughts to God and offering up the rest they were about
to take.
On another topic—one relevant to Lent and its association with fasting, that is, eating—he said this
should ideally be done with pious thoughts in mind, such as being at the Last Supper with Christ. He also
emphasized the importance of giving thanks for the food we eat and avoiding gluttony by not eating more
than we really need.
In general, Padre Pio thought it was unwise to try and get people to give up worldly passions too quickly.
Rather, they should gradually change their way of living so as not to become discouraged or lose interest
in spiritual matters.
As regards daily living, St. Pio highlighted the following points for those desiring to grow spiritually.
Firstly, they should put all their trust in Christ as their Savior, as a child trusts in its mother, while at the
same time recognizing that they are unrighteous in His sight. In practical terms, this meant not
complaining about injustices suffered, not being judgmental, and always forgiving those who have
offended us. At the same time, they should not be in any way self-satisfied, nor alternatively downcast by
their faults and failings. In sum, it was necessary for the believer to do their best while leaving everything
else to God.
St. Pio also emphasized that any good works we do are only done when we are in union with Christ. And
so, our motives for acting must be God-centered, and our acts done with the intention of pleasing Him.
He strongly counseled his followers to take the existence of the devil seriously, but without being fearful
of him despite the great extent of his malevolent activity in the world. To counter such influence, he
urged his spiritual children to constant prayer, at all times and in all places, especially prayer that we
should do the will of God. St. Pio had great faith in the power of prayer, and especially prayer for the
dead.
He also counseled offering up all our actions and sufferings to God with a short mental prayer, while also
not allowing ourselves to get bogged down through worry, which is futile and an indication of our lack of
confidence in God. He warned that “Worry dries up Christian piety and makes it sterile.”
He saw suffering as a special sign of God’s love and said that “Without love for the Cross, we cannot
make much profit in the Christian life.” He argued that if we wanted to be healed of our spiritual ills, it
was necessary to suffer without grumbling.
In sum, for St. Pio, we need to genuinely aspire to heavenly glory while also despising worldly things to
make this the mainspring of our lives – and then we can rejoice in the Lord, and in doing so, drive
melancholy away and live joyfully in a spirit of love.
Lent with St. Padre Pio {PALM SUNDAY}
“One who comes [to the confessional], comes seeking comfort, pardon, peace in his soul; let him find a father who
embraces him and says, ‘God loves you,’ and makes the penitent feel that God really does.”
—Pope Francis, speaking of Padre Pio
Even before he was officially recognized as a saint by the Church, Padre Pio was held in highest regard by the people of
San Giovanni Rotondo, where he lived for a good part of his life. In fact, when Padre Pio’s superiors considered relocating
him amidst speculation about his stigmata, the townspeople angrily gathered together to protest the move and even
barricaded the monastery. In Padre Pio they found a model of faith.
To this day, Padre Pio is venerated for his holiness, simplicity, and poverty—three characteristics we can all try to emulate.
In Padre Pio’s Own Words
Holiness means overcoming ourselves. It means having perfect victory over all our passions. It means truly and constantly
disregarding ourselves and despising the things of this world to the point of preferring poverty to riches, humiliation to glory,
and pain to pleasure.
Holiness means loving our neighbor as ourselves out of love for God.
With regard to others, holiness means loving even those who curse us, who hate us, who persecute us, and even doing
good to them. Holiness means living a life of humility, detachment, wisdom, righteousness, patience, charity, chastity,
gentleness, and diligence. It is a life of doing our duty for no other reason than to please God and receive our reward from
him alone.
In summary, Raffaelina, holiness has the power in itself, according to the language of the sacred books, to transform a
human being into God.
(To Raffaelina Cerase, December 30, 1915
