Stigmatics: Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Stigmata, Pio of Pietrelcina, Audrey Santo, Anne

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 34. Chapters: Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Stigmata, Pio of Pietrelcina, Audrey Santo, Anne Catherine Emmerich, Lucia Brocadelli of Narni, Gemma Galgani, Therese Neumann, Osanna of Mantua, Veronica Giuliani, Stephana de Quinzanis, John of God, Natuzza Evolo, Matthew Carrieri, Marthe Robin, Rhoda Wise, Christina von Stommeln, Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus, Zlatko Sudac, Marie Rose Ferron, Catherine of Racconigi, Marcelline Pauper, Maria Domenica Lazzeri. Excerpt: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (25 May 1887 - 23 September 1968) was a Capuchin priest from Italy who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He was born Francesco Forgione, and given the name Pio when he joined the Capuchins; he was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his stigmata. On 16 June 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II. Francesco Forgione was born to Grazio Mario Forgione (1860-1946) and Maria Giuseppa de Nunzio Forgione (1859-1929) on 25 May 1887, in Pietrelcina, a farming town in the southern Italian region of Campania. His parents made a living as peasant farmers. He was baptized in the nearby Santa Anna Chapel, which stands upon the walls of a castle. He later served as an altar boy in this same chapel. Restoration work on this chapel was later undertaken by the Padre Pio Foundation of America based in Cromwell, Connecticut. His siblings were an older brother, Michele, and three younger sisters, Felicita, Pellegrina, and Grazia (who was later to become a Bridgettine nun). His parents had two other children who died in infancy. When he was baptised, he was given the name Francesco, which was the name of one of these two. He claimed that by the time he was five years old he had already taken the decision to dedicate his entire life to God. He is also said to have begun inflicting penances on himself and to have been chided on one occasion by his mother for using a stone as a pillow and sleeping on the stone floor. He worked on the land up to the age of 10, looking after the small flock of sheep the family owned. This delayed his education to some extent. Pietrelcina was a highly religious town (feast days of saints were celebrated throughout the year), and religion had a profound influence on the Forgione family. The members of the family attended daily Mass, prayed the Rosary nightly, and abstained from meat three days a week in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Although Francesco's parent