Padre Pio And America
A Book by Mr. Frank M. Rega
2005 Edition: Tan
Books, pp. 308 (w.
Photos)
Formerly Entitled: “The Holy Man on the Mountain”
A Book Review by Br. Alexis Bugnolo,
Editor of The Franciscan Achive
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall
gather together the lambs with his arm,
and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are
with young.”
(Isaias 40:11 — From the inside cover of the book)
Consolation, Inspiration, Encouragement.
If one had to describe Frank M. Rega’s Book, Padre Pio and America, I do not think he could do better, with a few words, that to say it is a consolation, an inspiration, and an encouragement in the Faith, to read this book. Here are my reflections gathered and garnered from Mr. Rega’s Book. At the end I will give a brief synopsis of its contents, according to the text. But first, the essential spiritual realities that this book will impart to you, if you read it prayerfully.
SPIRITUAL MEDICINE AND HEALING
If you have never heard of Padre Pio or if you have read a dozen books about him, this one thing will strike you about this great, great Saint. He was so conformed to Christ Crucified, that he became filled with the Spiritual Medicine and Healing that the Divine Redeemer, the Doctor of Our Souls, is filled with. So that everyone who met him, talked with him, heard of him, was consoled, inspired, and encouraged in the Faith.
Padre Pio is truly a divine gift for our sorry, weary, and sick age.
He is one of those Saints, which the Lord Jesus gives the Church once or twice in a 1,000 years. Padre Pio is a sign that the Lord Jesus has particular and special pity for us poor sinners at the beginning of the Third Millennium, when the world seems more and more, along with so many in the Church, to be headed to open revolt from God.
Padre Pio is a spiritual medicine and a source of great spiritual healing for all souls.
He is this, because if you but get to know him just a little you are consoled, inspired and encouraged in your faith. You are consoled because, we see in Padre Pio the Faith come alive: He worked miracles for everyone who asked him, obtained conversions of the most hardened sinners, solved inextricable problems, protected 100,000’s of souls and families from every kind of danger, spiritual and physical, and did this all because he obtained all he asked for from the Lord Jesus and Our Blessed Mother.
Padre Pio was a priest, par-excellence. And thus he was and is forever a great healer of souls. I don’t mean to say that he left you or leaves you with a good feeling about yourself. Nothing so silly, mundane or trite. No, he imparts a clear, focused idea of what salvation is all about, and a clear, practical method for obtaining it: Penance, Conversion, Prayer, Mortification, Good Works, focused on Christ Crucified, His Mass and His Mother.
SPIRITUAL WONDER AND A WONDERFUL SPIRIT
Padre Pio is a spiritual wonder. In reading this book you will hear dozens of fascinating stories of how Padre Pio worked the most amazing miracles, interventions, and graces. How he intervened in the lives of so many citizens of the U.S.A., and how much he loved and loves Americans.
He is a wonder, because, seemingly, there is nothing Padre Pio could not do, no grace he could not obtain, no prayer he could not answer. And all this while he was alive! Now that the good Padre is gloried and enthroned in Heaven, besides Jesus and Mary, what can he not obtain for you and me!
He is also a wonderful spirit. Padre Pio was no gloomy saint — no saint every was — but as the GI who are quoted in Padre Pio and America said, he was the kind of priest you could both bare your soul to, and go fishing with; drink a beer and crack a joke.
The beauty that was and is Padre Pio is that of a Priest, a true Father of Souls; getting to know Padre, by reading a book about him, is the best way to come to know Padre, and to begin a spiritual devotion and relationship with him.
A PROPHET OF OUR TIMES
It is often said that one of the greatest prophets of our times is Sr. Lucia Santos, who received such wonderful graces and revelations from Our Lady at Fatima: and this is very true. Padre Pio, in his own way, is also a great prophet for our times, because he was grace by the Lord Jesus with an unique share in His own knowledge of the Future.
And in this Padre Pio is an inspiration for us Americans. He is an inspiration because of what he says, as quoted in the book, about the U.S.A. When asked if Russia will be converted to the Catholic Faith, as Our Lady of Fatima promised, through Sr. Lucia Santos, Padre says that it will be, and suddenly, to the surprise of many. But then he adds: and Russia will give American a good example of what it means to convert. And then he promises that the U.S.A. will also convert to the Catholic Faith, but he adds that the process will be slow, but eventually.
It is a great inspiration for Catholics in American who are rightfully and perhaps even tearfully concerned about collapse of morality in our country, and especially among our priests and religious, and bishops: to know that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal King, has manifested through Padre Pio, His own Eternal Decree of the conversion of Our Nation to the Catholic Faith!
OUR LEADER, PATRON, SPIRITUAL FATHER
But perhaps the most encouraging thing you will discover reading this book, is the love the good Padre has for us American Citizens. And this is a great encouragement. It is an encouragement because, knowing how powerful Padre Pio is with the Lord, it is a great, great encouragement for all of us Americans to know that Padre Pio insists and wants us to become His spiritual children, so as to save our souls, watch over all our loved ones, and take our Country under his wing, as it were, to work out the conversion of us all and the salvation of our nation.
In the book you can read all about how Padre Pio intervened in the lives of so many American GI’s, their personal stories, and how to become a spiritual child of Padre Pio. There is a great amount of information about the Americans Padre knew so well, and who helped make him know in the U.S.A..
WHAT’S IN THE BOOK
Padre Pio and America is a easy reading, interesting, account of the Life of Padre Pio, punctuated with the stories of Americans who met, knew, and were blessed by Padre Pio’s intervention in their lives. In 35 short chapters, accompanied by 16 pp. of color photos, you will learn about such Americans as Mary McAlpin Pyle, the GI’s assigned to the 15th Air Force (Army Corp Group) stationed in the vicinity of Foggia, Italy, in 1943-45, such as Bob Coble, Joe Peluso, Art Lucchesi, Ray Bunten, Ray Luichinger, Dan Lemon, Mario Avignone, William Carrigan, Joe Peterson, Gaetano Pavone (who saw the Padre from a plane above San Giovanni Rotondo protecting the city from the American Bombers); and hear the stories of some of the Americans who met and helped Padre Pio after the war, such as Colonel Laboon, Barbara Ward, Mario Bruschi, Fr. Joseph Pius (Bill Martin), Ron and Dianne Allen, Joe Spada, and Vera M. Calandra.
Finally, Padre Pio and America is very useful, for citing the sources of all its reports, and for the 5 page Bibliography of Padre Pio books it contains.
This edition is published as a soft-back, paperback and is available from Tan Books and Publishers, Inc, of Rockford, Illinois, 61105
To View Mr. Adamic’s Photo Collection from his visit to Padre Pio in 1945
To Vist the Internet Guide to Padre Pio