Novena in honor of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

First Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, loving father, you bore the visible wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ on your body.  You carried the Cross for all humanity.  In bearing the physical and moral sufferings that continually tortured your body and soul you became a martyr of love for all people.  We beg you to intercede for us with our Almighty Father that we may have the courage to accept the great and small crosses of life that transform individual suffering into a sure link that leads us to eternal life.

Padre Pio: You should feel at home with sufferings that it pleases Jesus to send you, since you always have to live with them.  Acting thus you think less of being freed from them.  Jesus who cannot suffer long to keep you in affliction will come to relieve and comfort you by infusing fresh courage into your soul.

Second Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, holy father, you now live with our loving Father and God Jesus Christ.  You grew in holiness and resisted the seductions of the Evil One.  You were physically beaten by the infernal spirits of evil who sought to force you to leave the road to holiness that you had chosen to follow.  Pray for us to God that through your intercession and in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we may find the spiritual courage to renounce sin and be strengthened in faith until death.

Padre Pio: Courage, do not be afraid of Lucifer’s anger.  Temptations, discouragement and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy.  Remember this:  if the devil makes noise it is a sign that he is still outside and not yet within.  That which must terrify us is his peace and concord with the human soul.

Third Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, virtuous father, you loved Our Blessed Mother very much.  You were gifted every day with the graces and comforts that only She can give. We beg you to pray for us to our Heavenly Mother and place our sins and petitions in Her hands.  As at Cana in Galilee, may She intercede for us that Her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, may hear Her prayers on our behalf and inscribe our names in the Book of Life.

Padre Pio:  May Mary be the star that gives light to your way and indicates the certain road that leads to the Heavenly Father.  May she be a sure sign that keeps you united with each other in times of trial.

Fourth Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, chaste father, you taught us to love our Guardian Angel as you loved yours so much.  Your Guardian Angel was your constant companion, guide, defender and messenger.  The Angels even brought the prayers of your spiritual children to you.  Since they are a presence of the Living God who help to avoid the disgrace of sin and are always ready to indicate the road that leads us to goodness and keep us from evil, pray that we too may learn, as you, to appreciate the ministry of our Guardian Angels and speak to them that we may be receptive to their inspiration and learn to obey them at all times.

Padre Pio: Invoke your Guardian Angel who will enlighten you.  God gave you your Guardian Angel for this reason.  So make use of your Angel’s service.

Fifth Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, prudent father, you loved the Souls in Purgatory so much and taught us to love them as well.  You offered yourself as a victim to expiate their sufferings in Purgatory.  Intercede for us with Our Lord and God Jesus Christ that our hearts may be filled with compassion and love for the Holy Souls. Following your example, we too desire to assist the Holy Souls and reduce their time of affliction in Purgatory.  We ask that our prayers and sacrifices may grant them relief in their sufferings, the holy indulgences necessary to liberate them from their place of torment and a speedy entrance into the eternal joys of heaven.

Padre Pio: Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to give me the punishment due to sinners and the Souls in Purgatory.  Increase the sufferings in me that will convert and save sinners, and quickly liberate the souls from the torments of Purgatory.

Sixth Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, obedient father, your loved the sick and infirm more than yourself because in them you saw Jesus.  In the name of God you performed miracles of healing in body, soul and mind.  Your intercession with God healed the ills of past and present and strengthened people to respond with confidence to future challenges.  Those who came to you regained a sense of spiritual integrity as you re-kindled hope in their lives, and encouraged them to renew the spirit in their hearts.  Through the intercession of Our Heavenly Mother, may we experience your powerful assistance and be healed in our bodily and spiritual needs, and gratefully give praise and thanks to God for all his blessings.

Padre Pio: If I knew that someone were suffering, whether in body or soul, I would ask God to free that person from whatever their problem is.  And I would willingly accept that person’s sufferings on myself if that would save the person and allow the person to share in the fruits of that suffering.

Seventh Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, holy father, you fulfilled the salvation plan of God and offered yourself as a victim to free all people from their bondage to Satan. Pray for us to God.  Intercede for all those people who have no faith, that they cooperate with God’s gifts and grow in a strong and sincere faith, and thus be converted to the Lord, through a sincere and heartfelt repentance of their sins.  May those whose faith is weak grow strong in their Christian life, and may the faithful children of God continue with greater commitment on the road to salvation.

Padre Pio: If the world could see the beauty of a soul without sin, all sinners, all non-believers would instantly convert (their lives).

Eighth Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, pure father, you loved your Spiritual Children very much.  How many of your children were acquired at the price of your blood! Pray that we who have not known you personally, may also be numbered among your Spiritual Children.  Through your fatherly protection, saintly guidance and the spiritual strength you gain for us from God, at the moment of our death may we encounter you waiting for us at the Gates of Paradise.

Padre Pio: If it were possible, I would like one favor from the Lord: I would want, if He said to me ‘Go to heaven’, I would like to have this grace: Lord, do not allow me to enter heaven until the last of my children, the last of those persons entrusted to my priestly care, have entered before me…I have made an agreement with the Lord that when my soul is purified by the flames of Purgatory and is worthy to enter heaven, I will stand at the gates of paradise and will not enter until I have seen the last of my sons and daughters enter.

Ninth Day:

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, humble father, you truly loved our Holy Mother the Church.  Ask God, the Lord of the Harvest, to send laborers into His vineyard.  May He fill the world with many and holy priests who are filled with the strength and inspiration that comes only from God.  Intercede for us with the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, that she may lead to unity all our brothers and sisters who call upon Jesus, the Christ, as Lord and Savior.  May they find their unity in the one great family of God in Christ on earth, so that the Church may be a beacon of light and sure hope of salvation in the storm-tossed sea of life.

Always remain united to the Holy Catholic Church, because only She can save you.  Only She possesses Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, Who is the true Prince of Peace.  Outside the Church there is no salvation.  The Church alone gives Baptism; the Forgiveness of Sins; and the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ that offer you eternal life; and all the other Sacraments that assist us in living a holy life.

Closing Prayer

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, spiritual father of countless souls who seek a deeper relationship with God in their lives, I thank God for the gift He has given His Church in you. You are the image for our modern world of His Crucified Son and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Through your resignation to the Father’s Will in your life, often manifested through the decisions of the Church and your religious superiors, teach us humility that we may be among those humble souls to whom the Eternal Father, through His Incarnate Son Jesus, promised to reveal the mysteries of His Kingdom. Through your love and concern for those who suffer in mind and body, teach us to recognize with the eyes of faith the face of our Lord Jesus Christ Who makes Himself known in the poor and suffering.

Through your resignation and trust in God during the painful struggled you were asked to bear, support and assist us in times of trouble and trial.

Through that ministry of the confessional for which you were known and through which many returned to the Father’s love, encourage us to trust unlimitedly in the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to experience the joy of forgiveness in sincerely returning to the loving embrace of the Father should we succumb to temptation and fall into sin.

Through the faithfulness with which you bore the sacred marks of the Passion of our Savior on your body during your earthly journey, strengthen us by your example to bear in our hearts and accept in our lives the life-giving mystery of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus.

Through that childlike confidence and love you fostered and encouraged for the Mother of all God’s children, Mary ever-Virgin, teach us filial love and devotion for, and confident recourse in the almighty intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Lord and our Heavenly Mother, that through Her intercession we may more easily approach the Savior, through Whom the Father calls us to Himself.

Through the concern and commitment with which you attached yourself spiritually to all those who sought you as spiritual guide, accompany us at every moment on our earthly pilgrimage towards heaven.

There we hope one day to contemplate the glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, our God Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

(Adapted and amplified form of the prayer composed by Pope John Paul II)

V – May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

R – Through it the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

V – You bore the wounds of Christ on your body.

R – That we might learn the value of the Cross

V – Pray for us St. Pio of Pietrelcina

R – That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Let us pray: Almighty and eternal God, by a singular grace you allowed your priest, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, to participate in the mystery of the Cross of your Son, and through his ministry, you revealed the marvels of your mercy. Grant that through his intercession we may remain one with Christ in his Passion so as to joyfully attain the glory of the Resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.