Saint Padre Pio Given Place of Honor for the Veneration of the Faithful in the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

photos and text taken from the Facebook page of the Shrine https://www.facebook.com/basilicavoltosanto

 In the Basilica of the Holy Face, the area of the Friars' Choir, behind the main altar, has been opened to the faithful. The decision, made by Rector Father Antonio Gentili in agreement with his fellow Capuchins, is motivated by the desire to offer pilgrims traveling to Manoppello the opportunity to experience another moment of grace: that of being able to approach up close the pew where the last known bilocation of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) occurred.

A witness to the event was Padre Domenico da Cese (1905-1978) from Avezzano, a Capuchin priest who lived at the Shrine of the Holy Face from 1965 until his death. He was a spiritual son and friend of Padre Pio: their first meeting in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1940 is well-known, for example. Equally well-known is the advice Padre Pio used to give to the faithful of Abruzzo not to travel far to visit him but rather to go to Manoppello to see the friar from the Marsica in Italy, who closely resembled him, both because he had received the same spiritual gifts from the Lord and for his always simple and welcoming manner. Indeed, Padre Domenico confided to a friend, Bruno Sammaciccia (who later recounted the episode in a public document), that he had seen Padre Pio in bilocation on September 22, 1968, the day before his death, kneeling in the first pew of the friars' choir, his head in his hands and his gaze fixed on the Holy Face (perfectly visible from that position, as it still is today), while he uttered these words: "I no longer trust myself; see you in Heaven."

In the same place as the choir, a relic of Saint Pio, set in a wooden cross, is displayed: a lock of the Saint's hair and a piece of his Franciscan habit.

Thanking God for the gift and example of the Saints, with humble and trusting hearts, prostrate before the image of the Face of the Risen Jesus, as Saint Pio did then, approaching the moment of passing from earthly life to heaven, we entrust our most intimate and profound intentions to his intercession.