From the moment he received the letter describing the marks in Padre Pio’s hands, Padre Benedetto was determined to have him return to community life, at all costs.
Chapter Six
Illness and Ecstasies
“Your Living Outside the Friary Is Serving No Useful Purpose”
Padre Benedetto, still minister provincial, wrote to the minister general of the Capuchin order, Padre Pacifico of Seggiano, telling him about the young friar’s holiness and asking about the advisability of sending him once more to live in a religious community.
Describing Padre Pio as “a young priest of angelic character,” the provincial mentioned his oblation as a victim of divine love as well as his mysterious illnesses, linking the two together:
He had also asked to participate in the pains of the Savior, and has been granted this in an ineffable way. Migraine headaches, resistant to any remedy, and an illness inexplicable to any doctor, however renowned in the healing art, have come to torment him along with great spiritual suffering. It was suspected that he had been stricken with tuberculosis, and doctors ordered him to breathe the air of his native town, especially when uncontrollable vomiting prevented him from holding even a spoonful of broth for days and days.”1
He also told Padre Pacifico about the stigmata, which he judged to be “the seal of his special calling.”
Padre Benedetto asked for advice. Several times in recent years, he said, Padre Pio had been sent to various friaries, only to suffer relapses which forced his superiors to send him home. “Well aware that until now this has been the will of God,” Padre Benedetto wrote, “I want to summon him at this time to return to the cloister in any way possible. I am concerned, however [if anything should go amiss], it would be my fault. What do you say about this?”2
Padre Pacifico must have encouraged Padre Benedetto to reassign the “angelic” young priest to a friary, because in the fall of 1911 the minister provincial began to urge Padre Pio to return to community life. He did not command him to do so, however. Rather, he tried to persuade him to consent.
But Padre Pio was extremely reluctant. “You know that I want to return to the friary,” he wrote Padre Benedetto. “The greatest sacrifice that I have made to the Lord is precisely my inability to live in community.” He added, though, that he could not bring himself to believe that God wanted to kill him, as he would surely die of vomiting and inanition were he to return to the cloister. Moreover, at Pietrelcina he was able to celebrate Mass, whereas, if past experience was any guide to the future, he would be physically unable to do so in a convent. “If I must suffer alone,” Padre Pio wrote, “that is well, but to be a cause of pain and anxiety without any result other than my death, to that I do not know how to respond.” Despite his misgivings, Padre Pio indicated that he was willing to obey the command of his superiors. “It seems to me that I have the right and duty of not depriving myself of life at the age of twenty-four! It seems to me that God does not want this to happen. Consider that I am more dead than alive, and then do as you believe best, for I am disposed to make any sacrifice if it is a case of obedience.”3
Under his vow of obedience, Padre Pio, as a good religious, was prepared to obey the command of his superior, even if it should result in his death; but Padre Benedetto worried that God would hold him responsible if Padre Pio died, so he was unwilling to order him under obedience to report to a friary. He tried again to convince the sickly priest that such course of action would be best, writing on September 29:
I tell you that your staying with your family troubles me very much, since I would not only want to see you at one of our friaries, but also at my side, so that I could watch over you, for you know that I love you like a son. I therefore believe that your living outside the friary is serving no useful purpose…. If your illness is the express will of God and not a natural phenomenon, it is better for you to return to the shadow of community life. Native air cannot cure a man visited by the Most High…. Either at home or in community, your health will always be what God wills.”4
Padre Pio’s reply to Padre Benedetto has not been preserved, but whatever he said, it caused Padre Benedetto to explode in anger. On October 4, the minister provincial wrote: “When one writes as superior and spiritual director, you ought to listen to what he tells you with reverence and inward submission and not argue with him with a kind of resentment! As your superior and director, I declare to you that your illness has no need of doctors, since it is a special dispensation from God, and for this reason I am not of a mind to arrange an examination by another specialist.” He went on to recount the enormous expenditures made for Padre Pio of Benevento in his last illness and for other friars who had recently suffered serious health problems:
You see, then, how unfounded your accusation is and how wrong you are in obstinately believing in your own way. But you do not want to submit humbly to my judgments, and you are acting wickedly! I hope that this will be the last time that you refuse to submit to my instruction. Otherwise, I will not write to you anymore. Moreover, you really hurt me by saying that I do not love you [and] that I want to kill you.5
In response to the minister provincial’s letter, Padre Pio wrote in abject contrition:
With reddened eyes and trembling hand I write you this letter to beg your forgiveness on bended knee … I repent of this matter as one who loves God is able to repent of his sins. Please pardon me, Father. I know I do not deserve pardon, but your goodness towards me gives me hope. Do not be upset. Didn’t you know that I am full of pride? Let us pray together to the Lord that he strike me down before I fall again into such excesses.6
The Friary at Venafro
After receiving Padre Pio’s submissive reply, Padre Benedetto acceded to his request for another medical examination. He was sent to Naples, where the specialists concluded that Padre Pio was hopelessly ill (with what disease is unclear) and maintained that it would make no difference whether he spent his last days at home or in a convent. Padre Benedetto decided, therefore, that if Padre Pio was destined soon to die, he might as well depart the world from a friary. He ordered Padre Pio to report to the convent of San Nicandro in Venafro, a town about fifty miles north of Pietrelcina, famous for its pure air, which Padre Benedetto hoped might prolong the young priest’s days. While awaiting his appointment with “Sister Death,” Padre Pio would take a course on sacred eloquence.
It was at Venafro that the supernatural aspect of Padre Pio’s life became apparent to many of his confreres.
Built in 1573, the friary at Venafro was named after the Roman martyr San Nicandro and was adjacent to the tomb and thirteenth-century basilica erected in his honor. The Capuchin community consisted of thirteen men: nine priests and four brothers. The father guardian, or local superior, was thirty-three-year-old Padre Evangelista of San Marco in Lamis. Padre Agostino was vicar as well as lector of sacred eloquence. Among the community were Padre Anastasio of Roio, who had been with him during his January 1905 bilocation with the Rizzani family, as well as Padre Guglielmo of San Giovanni Rotondo (who later wrote an account of the early years of Padre Pio’s ministry), and the learned, ascetical sixty-eight-year-old Padre Francesco Maria of Gambatesa.
Padre Pio arrived on October 28, and for the first few days everything proceeded smoothly. Each member of the religious family had a job to perform, and Padre Pio, besides his studies, was assigned the task of instructing local children in Christian doctrine and teaching them hymns. By mid-November, however, he was sick again, unable to hold anything in his stomach. Soon he was able to leave his bed only to celebrate Mass, having to give up his studies and teaching.
Mysterious Noises
Padre Evangelista decided to take Padre Pio to Naples once more for medical consultation. As usual, the doctors were unable to diagnose his illness, and the two friars left the clinic knowing no more than before.
That evening the priests took a room in a hotel. During the night, Padre Evangelista was awakened by loud noises that rendered