Padre Pio was one of the greatest saints of the 20th century a devoted priest a miracle worker and demon fighter he touched so many people that a hundred thousand attended his funeral but did you know he had a mystical Vision in the final moments before his death? after barely making it through Mass on September the 22nd 1968 the 81 year old Saint almost collapsed leaving the church a group of his Franciscan brothers helped him and laid him on his bed soon after midnight on the 23rd he made his final confession and renewed his Franciscan vows he was so weak he could barely speak but he was able to repeat the words "Jesus, Mary" while clutching a rosary then suddenly around 2:30 a. m he perked up a bit the saint who had so many supernatural experiences throughout his life appeared as though he was seeing something though no one around him saw anything special he managed to say "I see two mothers" and then whispered "Maria" then died what exactly did he see?
regarding the "two mothers" there are only a few possibilities he could have meant he was seeing his spiritual mother Mary, Mother of God, and his biological mother the church is also a "mother" though it is not clear how that could be manifested and while it might seem obvious that his last word "Maria" referred to the Blessed Virgin his biological mother was also named "Maria" so he may have been referring to her but another Mystic may have shed light on who Padre Pio really saw during his last moments let me tell you about Sister Rita Montella mystic, stigmatic and Augustinian nun, the very nun that is believed to have grabbed Ali Agca, the man responsible for the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II but Sister Rita was a close companion of Saint Padre Pio and had even assisted him many times through bilocation Padre Pio himself had even called her "Bambina" which means "little girl" according to a written testimony it is believed that Sister Rita had even assisted Padre Pio in bilocation during his last agony on September the 23rd 1968. She said at the moment of his passing the Virgin Mary, Saint Francis and Saint Clare were present in his room so it is clear that the name "Maria" spoken by Padre Pio could have been the Virgin Mary either way it seems fitting that a man whose life was full of Supernatural happenings would finish his earthly life with a mystical vision apart from the mystical experiences Saint Padre Pio's celebration of Mass was legendary as many people have related that it could last up to three hours for Padre Pio the celebration of Mass involved his entire being it was the highlight of his day and the source of his strength he would begin his day at 3:30 am rising to begin his preparations for Mass which wouldn't start until 5:30. he spent his time in meditation and prayer preparing his heart for Mass when it came time for Padre Pio to celebrate Mass he would become very emotional with full knowledge of what he was doing Padre Pio was able to enter into the passion of christ each time he celebrated Mass with this in mind it should come as no surprise that Padre Pio was very emotional during mass often visibly crying his face was deathly pale radiant and sometimes bathed in tears there was an intensity in his favor there were painful contractions of his body, great silent sobs shook him from time to time everything about him showed how intensely he was living the passion of christ one had the impression that space and time had been canceled between the altar and the hill of Calvary furthermore another reason behind the length of Pio's Mass was his attention to detail in every rubik he seemed to be meditating on every word and to be carried out himself by every action of the rite he read with emotion in a low and almost weary voice, unhurriedly pronouncing each word distinctly the consecration was a high point of the Mass for Padre Pio and it was noted that Padre Pio seemed to spend 10 to 15 minutes adoring the consecrated bread and wine later in his life Saint Padre Pio was not able to sustain a long Mass and his Masses were only about an hour long Saint Padre Pio reminds us that the Mass is much more than the eye can see and is meant to transport us to Calvary where we encounter Jesus Christ Our Lord Saint Padre Pio also witnessed many evils during his lifetime he lived through both world wars and saw the great violence and hatred that existed in the hearts of many people in Europe but in the face of such profound evil Padre Pio had a single weapon he once said: "Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother.
Love the Madonna and pray the rosary for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother. " Padre Pio prayed the rosary fervently on a daily basis and even kept a few rosaries under his pillow one night he wasn't able to find his rosaries so he called Father Onorato of San Giovanni Rotondo and said to him: "Young man, get me my weapon!
give me my weapon! " The rosary for Padre Pio was not a rote string of "Hail Marys" but an intimate offering to his beloved mother in heaven he possessed a great love of the Virgin Mary and remained close to her during his many times of trial he attributed everything to the Blessed Mother and believed her powerful intercession could heal both soul and body while many of us might struggle to pray the rosary on a daily basis Padre Pio would encourage us to persevere he believed that when the rosary is prayed devoutly and with the heart anything is possible. Saint Padre Pio pray for us.
