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Padre Pio and You: An Epic Story of Spiritual Fatherhood
Sometimes the saints can seem distant to us, although the Faith teaches that they are waiting to be our dearest friends and guides to Heaven. One of the most powerful modern-day saints and spiritual fathers is St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968) — and he is waiting to meet you, wherever you are, just as he introduced himself to his spiritual daughter Mary O’Regan, who wrote these wonderful pages.
Padre Pio, an Italian Franciscan, continues from his place in Heaven to seek out souls from every walk of life to nurture and protect. In Pio you will find a father who prays for you to receive extraordinary graces, guides you through hard times, and helps you discern your vocation. Pio told a beloved spiritual daughter that he saw all his children in spirit when he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Is yours one of the souls he is seeing now?
Through the lens of Pio’s letters to his directees, his counsels on various spiritual themes, and little-known historical events — from World War II “flights,” to hidden trials, to dramatic conversion stories, to humorous anecdotes — you will come to know the stigmatic friar as never before. You will absorb fascinating details about his life, beginning with his infancy in the care of saintly parents, and
The heart-pounding story of his first bilocation at age seventeenWays that he was attacked and is able to assist you in the spiritual combatThe role of dryness and darkness in prayer and temptations to unite you closer to GodFive means he gave to his spiritual children to assist them on the path to salvationHow to grow in more ardent love for Our Lady and go to Confession with true contritionHow to triumph over corruption and persecution and genuinely forgivePadre Pio led people in unique ways and offered profound insights on suffering; as a renowned Confessor, he provided healing for souls. This “humble friar who prays” had astonishing mystical gifts—as recounted in these pages—which were, in turn, shared by some of his spiritual children.
In the words of Padre Pio, “I have made a pact with the Lord, I will take my place at the gate of Paradise but I shall not enter until I have seen the last of my spiritual children enter…. When I have raised a soul, I never let it fall.” St. Pio waits for you.
Padre Pio, an Italian Franciscan, continues from his place in Heaven to seek out souls from every walk of life to nurture and protect. In Pio you will find a father who prays for you to receive extraordinary graces, guides you through hard times, and helps you discern your vocation. Pio told a beloved spiritual daughter that he saw all his children in spirit when he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Is yours one of the souls he is seeing now?
Through the lens of Pio’s letters to his directees, his counsels on various spiritual themes, and little-known historical events — from World War II “flights,” to hidden trials, to dramatic conversion stories, to humorous anecdotes — you will come to know the stigmatic friar as never before. You will absorb fascinating details about his life, beginning with his infancy in the care of saintly parents, and
The heart-pounding story of his first bilocation at age seventeenWays that he was attacked and is able to assist you in the spiritual combatThe role of dryness and darkness in prayer and temptations to unite you closer to GodFive means he gave to his spiritual children to assist them on the path to salvationHow to grow in more ardent love for Our Lady and go to Confession with true contritionHow to triumph over corruption and persecution and genuinely forgivePadre Pio led people in unique ways and offered profound insights on suffering; as a renowned Confessor, he provided healing for souls. This “humble friar who prays” had astonishing mystical gifts—as recounted in these pages—which were, in turn, shared by some of his spiritual children.
In the words of Padre Pio, “I have made a pact with the Lord, I will take my place at the gate of Paradise but I shall not enter until I have seen the last of my spiritual children enter…. When I have raised a soul, I never let it fall.” St. Pio waits for you.
- GenresCatholic
400 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
43 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 21, 2025
I loved this book! I will become a spiritual daughter of Padre Pio!! This book is hard to put down! I highly recommend for anyone!
July 17, 2025
I loved this very thorough book on Padre Pio . I always wanted to keep reading it .
January 14, 2026
This book starts off strong, drawing the reader in immediately, and telling the lesser known details of Pio’s family, childhood, and home life. I was instantly endeared to his parents.
This book also presents the very real and human side of Padre Pio. He endured terrible dark nights, was ruthlessly attacked by the devil, and suffered agonizing physical pain for decades. As such, he tended to be emotional, sensitive, and wept often. He sometimes felt abandoned by God, and was often discouraged and depressed. He had tremendous humility, his only mission in life was to save souls and was willing to do whatever it took to do so.
At the end of his life (81) he was plagued with such a bad cough that he was unable to sleep at night— yet, even with no sleep and in his frail condition, he would still hear fifty confessions a day. This was truly the “meat” of his ministry on earth: hearing confessions, reading souls, and converting the most hardened and unexpected sinners.
The fanaticism surrounding him was insane, which inspired various popes to treat him differently, depending on how they viewed the situation. In Rome, there were very real and passionate pro-Pio and anti-Pio factions at odds with each other about what to do with this stigmatist/mystic. Many cardinals, bishops, and priests went on a vicious smear campaign to destroy his name. How Pio was treated and allowed to exercise his ministry depended entirely on the ruling pope and which faction he sided with. Sometimes Pio’s faculties were stripped completely and he was imprisoned in his cell, treated like a criminal. Other times he was given full liberty to exercise his ministry.
Some of the stories in this book are stranger and more incredible than fiction— and I’m not talking about the conversions, miracles or bi-locations that Pio was known for. For example, a prior con-man and assassin, converted by Pio, was furious at Rome’s lies and restrictions on Pio, and so he used his connections to go on a campaign himself, digging up every scandal he could about the bishops, then published them in a book and used it as blackmail to ensure better treatment of Pio!
A wealthy American woman who travelled around Italy with Dr. Montessori stopped to see Pio. She was instantly enamored, and stayed by him the rest of her life. She renounced her past life entirely and built a pink house next to the Monastery, and lived there helping Pio for the rest of her life. She also cared for his parents when they became elderly and assisted at their deaths.
Some priests hated him so much that they wire tapped his room and recorded his conversations— despite having no proof, they then made up damaging lies to destroy his reputation, and the pope at the time fully believed them.
Some of his spiritual daughters were so fanatical and possessive, they resorted to almost manic means of trying to keep him to themselves. They would physically elbow and fight with others to sit in the front pew during his Masses. If Pio showed any sign of favoritism toward one, the others would lose their minds with jealousy. This makes it a little easier to see why the Vatican was worried…!
Another stunning thing I never knew was that Pio was responsible for building an incredible hospital — the Casa — which offered the highest quality medical care, with the latest technology, and was free. It never turned a patient away. Pio had great love and sympathy for the sick. This hospital was one of his greatest dreams which became a reality through the help of his friends. But it also became a great source of pain as donations poured in for the Casa from all over the world, and some of the friars became jealous of all the money. This contributed to their smear campaign against Pio. They wanted control of the money.
That’s just a few of the surprising little anecdotes in the book. The stories are captivating, and O’Regan is a good writer. Throughout the book, every once in a while, she tries to tie in a “spiritual take away” for the reader to apply to their life.
Overall, this book will bring you deeper and more intimate knowledge of Pio’s life, and most likely expose a side of him that you never knew.
Personally, I feel a greater sense of love and admiration for Pio after having read this book.
This book also presents the very real and human side of Padre Pio. He endured terrible dark nights, was ruthlessly attacked by the devil, and suffered agonizing physical pain for decades. As such, he tended to be emotional, sensitive, and wept often. He sometimes felt abandoned by God, and was often discouraged and depressed. He had tremendous humility, his only mission in life was to save souls and was willing to do whatever it took to do so.
At the end of his life (81) he was plagued with such a bad cough that he was unable to sleep at night— yet, even with no sleep and in his frail condition, he would still hear fifty confessions a day. This was truly the “meat” of his ministry on earth: hearing confessions, reading souls, and converting the most hardened and unexpected sinners.
The fanaticism surrounding him was insane, which inspired various popes to treat him differently, depending on how they viewed the situation. In Rome, there were very real and passionate pro-Pio and anti-Pio factions at odds with each other about what to do with this stigmatist/mystic. Many cardinals, bishops, and priests went on a vicious smear campaign to destroy his name. How Pio was treated and allowed to exercise his ministry depended entirely on the ruling pope and which faction he sided with. Sometimes Pio’s faculties were stripped completely and he was imprisoned in his cell, treated like a criminal. Other times he was given full liberty to exercise his ministry.
Some of the stories in this book are stranger and more incredible than fiction— and I’m not talking about the conversions, miracles or bi-locations that Pio was known for. For example, a prior con-man and assassin, converted by Pio, was furious at Rome’s lies and restrictions on Pio, and so he used his connections to go on a campaign himself, digging up every scandal he could about the bishops, then published them in a book and used it as blackmail to ensure better treatment of Pio!
A wealthy American woman who travelled around Italy with Dr. Montessori stopped to see Pio. She was instantly enamored, and stayed by him the rest of her life. She renounced her past life entirely and built a pink house next to the Monastery, and lived there helping Pio for the rest of her life. She also cared for his parents when they became elderly and assisted at their deaths.
Some priests hated him so much that they wire tapped his room and recorded his conversations— despite having no proof, they then made up damaging lies to destroy his reputation, and the pope at the time fully believed them.
Some of his spiritual daughters were so fanatical and possessive, they resorted to almost manic means of trying to keep him to themselves. They would physically elbow and fight with others to sit in the front pew during his Masses. If Pio showed any sign of favoritism toward one, the others would lose their minds with jealousy. This makes it a little easier to see why the Vatican was worried…!
Another stunning thing I never knew was that Pio was responsible for building an incredible hospital — the Casa — which offered the highest quality medical care, with the latest technology, and was free. It never turned a patient away. Pio had great love and sympathy for the sick. This hospital was one of his greatest dreams which became a reality through the help of his friends. But it also became a great source of pain as donations poured in for the Casa from all over the world, and some of the friars became jealous of all the money. This contributed to their smear campaign against Pio. They wanted control of the money.
That’s just a few of the surprising little anecdotes in the book. The stories are captivating, and O’Regan is a good writer. Throughout the book, every once in a while, she tries to tie in a “spiritual take away” for the reader to apply to their life.
Overall, this book will bring you deeper and more intimate knowledge of Pio’s life, and most likely expose a side of him that you never knew.
Personally, I feel a greater sense of love and admiration for Pio after having read this book.
August 18, 2025
While this isn’t my favorite biography of St. Padre Pio, it is the most thorough of any that I have read, and the only one to include a brief section on the lives of his parents (who subsequently influenced a great deal of his spiritual worldview). The book is very well researched and was clearly written with much devotion and love by Mary.
While the church politics surrounding St. Pio have to be covered in order to properly understand the unjust persecutions he faced, there were times where the book seemed a little too focused on them, particularly in areas such as unconfirmed theories and speculation about the motives of certain Vatican officials.
Nevertheless, this book revealed a side of St. Pio that I otherwise would never have known, and for that I am deeply grateful. In as many ways as the book emphasized just how saintly Pio was, it humanizes him as well, showing both his playful and rambunctious side, as well as the fatherly heart he possessed for his spiritual children.
This book is a treasured addition to my personal library, and I definitely recommend it to those who are thinking about reading it.
While the church politics surrounding St. Pio have to be covered in order to properly understand the unjust persecutions he faced, there were times where the book seemed a little too focused on them, particularly in areas such as unconfirmed theories and speculation about the motives of certain Vatican officials.
Nevertheless, this book revealed a side of St. Pio that I otherwise would never have known, and for that I am deeply grateful. In as many ways as the book emphasized just how saintly Pio was, it humanizes him as well, showing both his playful and rambunctious side, as well as the fatherly heart he possessed for his spiritual children.
This book is a treasured addition to my personal library, and I definitely recommend it to those who are thinking about reading it.
December 1, 2025
This is a fantastic and thorough account of Padre Pio's life. I never knew how much he suffered in this life. If I had known his story a long time ago I would have picked him as my confirmation Saint.
November 13, 2025
Oh wow, cried and laughed and learnt so much about this amazing Saint...speechless, no words can sum this book up
Thank you Mary, God Bless you x
Thank you Mary, God Bless you x
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews