I remember
years ago, when my brother was still alive, visiting their palatial home in Orange
County (CA). It was tastefully and
expensively decorated. In a niche in the
great room, was a beautiful alabaster statue of Our Lady and next to her a
smaller statue of Padre Pio. I remember thinking, he is not my kind of saint,
but then I am not Italian like my sister-in-law.
Sergio Castellitto plays the saint and Jurgen Prochnow the Apostolate Visitator, who has been sent by the Pope to find the truth regarding the man of God. The Cardinal is a taunting skeptic in the beginning but leaves with his life changed.
Saturday is the feast of this saint, so I highly recommend that you watch this movie. It is over three hours long, but worth every minute and maybe like this Anglo-Saxon, you too may have a change of heart!
My favorite prayer of St. Padre Pio
Stay with
me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so
often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without
meaning and hope.
Stay with
me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness.
Stay with
me, Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with
me, Lord, so that I can hear Your voice and follow You.
Stay with
me, Lord, for I desire to love You ever more, and to be always in Your company.
Stay with
me, Lord, if You wish me to be always faithful to You.
Stay with
me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for
You, a dwelling of Your love.
Stay with
me, Jesus, for it is getting late; the days are coming to a close and life is
passing. Death, judgement and
eternity are drawing near. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way,
for that I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the
dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how
I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with
me, Jesus, because in the darkness of life, with all its dangers, I need You. Help
me to recognize You as Your
disciples did at the Breaking of the Bread, so that the Eucharist Communion be the light which disperses
darkness, the power which sustains me, the unique
joy of my heart.
Stay with
me, Lord, because at the hour of my death I want to be one with You, and if not
by Communion, at least by Your grace
and love.
Stay with
me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolations because I do not deserve them,
but I only ask for the gift of Your
Presence. Oh yes! I ask this of You.
Stay with
me, Lord, for I seek You alone, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart,
Your Spirit, because I love You and I
ask for no other reward but to love You more and more, with a strong active love.
Grant that
I may love You with all my heart while on earth, so that I can continue to love
you perfectly throughout all eternity, dear Jesus. Amen