They say that miracles happen when you least expect them. For Father Placido,
a miracle arrived in the middle of the night in the form of a secret
visitor with a bleeding hand. Stay tuned to hear the story!
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and miracle worker whose intercession is still very powerful and active today. We publish
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Today's story takes us back to 1957 to the miraculous healing of Father Placido,
who was a close friend and classmate of Padre Pio during their time in the Capuchin
novitiate. In fact, it was Father Placido who had taken some of the very first photographs
of Padre Pio's stigmatized hands. But the focus of this story is not
on Padre Pio's stigmata, but on the healing of Father Placido himself.
The account of this incredible event was reported in detail by Francisco Sanchez-Ventura y Pascual
in his book, "El Padre Pio de Pietrelcina." Here's the story.
Father Placido, a friar from the monastery of San Marcos in Lamis, had been suffering from a serious
bile disorder and was admitted to the Hospital of San Severo. It was here that he requested to
receive the sacrament of communion. (Perhaps he thought his time on Earth was coming to an end.)
In the early morning hours, a nun who was attending to him noticed a strange sight on
the window pane beside Father Placido's bed. A hand, pierced and bleeding, was imprinted
on the glass from the outside. There was light shining through the hole in the hand. The nun
knew immediately that she was witnessing something extraordinary. She called the attention of Father
Placido to the miraculous sight, and he recognized the hand as that of Padre Pio. He was convinced
that Padre Pio had visited him during the night. But his condition did not improve.
Days passed, and he grew weaker, despite the efforts
of the doctors and nurses who took care of him. It was not until three days later, at midnight,
that Father Placido experienced the true miracle. He was feeling very ill when he saw Padre Pio
appear before him, serene and smiling, just as he had seen him many times before. Father Placido
wanted to greet him, but Padre Pio raised his hand and said to him, "Stay calm. You will not die."
Padre Pio repeated the gesture, forbidding Father Placido from speaking, and then disappeared. The
event left him filled with wonder, and he was unable to sleep for the remainder of the night.
Despite the medical staff's protests and warnings, Father Placido, feeling completely
restored and strengthened, dressed at dawn and made his way back to the convent. His miraculous
recovery had left the doctors puzzled and amazed. When the Superior Father, Alberto of San Giovanni
Rotondo, who was serving as the parish priest of the Virgin of Graces church in San Severo,
asked Padre Pio if he had visited the hospital, the friar could not bring himself to lie in the
face of such a direct question. With great humility and a sense of shame, he confessed:
"Yes, I was there, but please don't tell anyone." However, as the main witness of the miracle,
Father Placido confirmed, the news of Padre Pio's miraculous visit had already spread throughout
the whole region. End of story.
Padre Pio's visit to Father Placido and his subsequent healing was carried out in secret,
during the night, without seeking any public recognition or reward. This echoes Jesus'
teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, where he cautions his followers not to perform
good deeds for the sake of gaining human praise or approval, but to do them in secret, trusting
that God sees and rewards them. (Matthew 6:1-4) For Padre Pio, helping his friend Father Placido
was not a calculated act of public relations or self-promotion, but an expression of his
genuine concern and love for him. By helping Father Placido in secret,
Padre Pio exemplified the kind of love and compassion Jesus taught his disciples to practice.
He didn't seek to be noticed or celebrated, but simply to relieve his friend's suffering.
In a world where social media and self-promotion often dominate our public discourse,
Padre Pio's example offers a refreshing reminder that true acts of kindness and charity are often
performed in secret, out of sight of the cameras and the crowds. Helping others in this way is
not only more effective, since it avoids the pitfall of vanity, but also more authentic,
since it reflects the genuine love and concern that we feel for our fellow human beings.
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