And in today's talk, how few people really believe.
And we're going to see how Padre Pio could really read the hearts of people, some personal
accounts of different people who ended up saying they could not understand how he knew
that about them.
So please do join us in this talk.
Hello, friends, and welcome to this channel, following Padre Pio.
And here through a series of short talks, we examine the life of our great saint, Padre
Pio.
He was a Capuchin friar, mystic, a tremendous miracle worker.
So do stay tuned to find out more about Padre Pio, and to see what his intercession could
do for you.
And we also wish to make a special thank you to our Protected Child of Padre Pio patrons.
Once again, you are the people who are making all of these videos possible for everyone.
So we do ask everyone watching, please remember them in your prayers.
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then just see the video on the end screen.
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by liking our video, and sharing the video with friends and with colleagues.
Now, to begin with, in the story, we can have a brief look at a recent survey, a statistical
survey that can give us some food for thought, some interesting details.
And this survey was for belief in God.
So it's not even stipulating that it must be in a Christian God, or that one must desire
to be in a state of grace.
It is just merely for belief in God.
And top of the list came Greece and Bulgaria.
64% of people in those countries believe in God.
Poland and Portugal, two Catholic countries, we could say, their statistic is 44% of people,
just under half, believe in God.
And then if we halve that again, Spain, Italy, Ireland, just 25% of people.
And this is on a par with Russia.
We know what Our Lady said about Russia, 25% believe in God.
And then coming towards the end, France, Switzerland, Austria, a mere 11% of people believe in God.
So what is that?
89% do not believe in God.
And then lowest on the list, Germany, only 10%, 1 in 10 people believe in God there.
Now, in Germany's defense, because it is partly my own ancestry, we can have a look at an
example, a tremendous example from Germany.
But a question comes to mind.
Germany is now spearheading what is called the synodal way, the synod of synodality,
in which so much seems to be up for grabs, spelling out the future of the church.
So what do people make of this, that the lowest on the list is leading the way?
Please leave in the comments below what do you think of this?
And as I said, the Germanic speaking world, partly my origins, so certainly materially
very successful nations, gained the whole world, we could say, but perhaps at the expense
of losing their soul, that is the question.
So not always been like this.
And there is this particular saint, a lady who became the Patroness of Prussia.
That is really what we want to look at.
What does create spiritual success?
And of course, Our Lady gave us this answer when she appeared in Fatima, bearing a message
that had been sent from heaven itself.
And she was calling in for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and also the Immaculate
Heart of Mary would lead us to God.
Our Lady there lamented the fact that so many souls go to hell because they have no one
praying for them and offering sacrifices for them.
And she called all of us to do this, to help our fellow brothers and sisters in this way.
We do have this interesting story, and it seems to defy logic, but we judge a tree by
its fruits.
St. Jutta, so she was a widow and she became the Patroness of Prussia, which of course
was part of the Germanic world at the time.
And she was a spiritual follower, we could say, of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
She got married when she was fairly young, just 15 years of age, to a nobleman.
And then a little while after that, she had this vision, in which she saw Our Lord and
he told her, "Follow me."
And so now she did that to the very best of her ability.
And it seems to have gone well because later when her husband died, he was now on a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land.
And when her children grew up, they embarked on a spiritual life, entering the religious
life.
So this part of her journey was now complete.
And with this, the way it was open for her to follow more devoutly in the footsteps of
St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
And she sold everything, gave everything to the poor, even to the point that when she
now saw a beggar, she would go and beg on his behalf.
This was her influence in the community.
And she started to acquire a reputation for tremendous holiness, but she didn't want the
reputation, she forsook the reputation and she now went on a journey to foreign lands.
And when she arrived there, she settled as a solitary, near a lake, no doubt, a very
beautiful lake.
And there, she wanted to lead a life of solitude, prayer, and charity, doing those three things.
But in this process, she started to accumulate tremendous spiritual wealth.
And eventually, villagers from the area, when they would pass her house, they would notice
things.
And the rumors started to spread, stories spread, they had seen one suspended in the
air, as if by angels.
And St. Jutta, she received visions and revelations, and it seemed she acquired an infused knowledge
of scripture.
So with this infused knowledge, she once said, "There are three things that bring one close
to God."
So this is the topic of our discussion.
And the first thing that she said, painful illness.
So this can bring us to God.
Exile from home to a remote corner of a foreign land, she certainly was living this, and poverty
voluntarily assumed for God's sake, for the sake of Our Lord.
And she lived these three things exactly.
In fact, in the end, her life was consumed with a fatal fever and she died, but it was
certainly as a saint.
And we can say the same about Padre Pio.
He lived these three things too.
Franciscan poverty, moving to a remote little village, high up on a mountain, where no one
was going to discover him it seemed.
And also, he was consumed often with unidentifiable illnesses.
And both of these people became great saints through these means.
If we look at the tree by the fruit that it bears.
And it's inexplicable the spiritual wealth we receive from these two people.
Now, Padre Pio, as we know, could read the hearts or the secret thoughts of people, that
often left them absolutely flabbergasted, but built up their faith in God.
Our first story of Fr.
Pascal Catanco, he gives us this testimony.
Now, Fr.
Catanco had permission to go to San Giovanni Rotondo, and there to have his confession
heard by Padre Pio.
So during the bus journey there, he prepared himself by making a very good examination
of his conscience.
And of course, he did this so that he could make a sincere confession.
So with the help of the Holy Spirit now examined every corner of his soul.
And he ended up by making many promises of amendment in his life.
However, as the bus was now nearing the Gargano Mountains, it was going up the Gargano Pass,
getting close to the end of its journey, he ended up thinking this thought and it really
stuck in his mind.
The thought is, "The spiritual life at time seems like one is trying to climb glass."
So those exact words, like trying to climb glass.
He arrived, Fr.
Catanco arrived at the friary, and he went into the Sacristy and he joined the queue,
waited there patiently for his confession.
His time came and he made his confession to Padre Pio, and then he received absolution
from Padre Pio.
And with that, he was now feeling very happy because his confession had been very sincere.
As he was leaving, one last time he glanced at Padre Pio.
And Padre Pio, with a smile on his face and amused look, he said wittingly, "So the spiritual
life seems like climbing glass, does it?
The exact words that Fr.
Catanco had thought on the journey.
And Fr.
Catanco was absolutely flabbergasted with this.
He just couldn't even utter a word.
And he now was convinced that only the Holy Spirit could have enlightened Padre Pio like
this.
The second story, there was a woman named Elma De Concini, this is her testimony.
So Elma says Padre Pio was hearing confessions of the woman, and she says, "I was in the
church, about three or four meters away from Padre Pio."
And then she realized that time was going to run out and she was not going to have a
confession heard today.
And so with this realization, she now spoke interiorly.
She had this thought, "Father, send me a blessing because I really need one."
And just as she had finished expressing this wish, she saw the saint to move away from
the confession window because he was hearing the confession, move away, and he looked,
Padre Pio looked directly at her, and then he lifted his hand and he made the sign of
the cross.
And then after that, he turned back and he continued hearing the confessions.
And so it seems that he had read her thoughts.
So in both of these cases, Padre Pio had simply read the thoughts in their hearts, their inner
thoughts, and he had used their exact words, or an expression that just left them absolutely
flabbergasted, and thereby increasing their belief in God.
So soon, we can have another video called the Pardon of Assisi.
It's about indulgences.
And obviously, it's a controversial topic, and in certain non-Catholic circles, it brings
to mind, it conjures up thoughts of simony and accusations like that.
But what if this pardon, this indulgence, was given by our Lord himself, what then?
Dear friends of following Padre Pio, wouldn't you like to be, as scripture says, "Those
who instruct many to justice shall be as the stars for eternity."
Apparently that's from the Book of Daniel.
So with that intention in mind, we offer you a special program, and it's called the Protected
Child of Padre Pio program.
And through this, if you join this program, you will be helping our team, at Following
Padre Pio, to reach out to many people, hopefully to inspire them so that they do not give up
hope, that they do not lose faith in God, in these very trying times.
So if you and I can give them this hope, then our Lord Jesus Christ's death would not have
been in vain for them.
So that's our aim.
And we also have regular masses celebrated for all of those who join the Protected Child
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And of course, there are other benefits too.
To find out more, just click the video on the end screen, or you can go to the link
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