And the story is the experiences of Father John Esseff when he first met Padre Pio.
And these are certainly some very unusual and incomprehensible things that happened
to him.
So please do stay tuned to find out what they are.
Hello, friends, and welcome to our channel, Following Padre Pio, where we, through a series
of short stories, investigate the incredible life of our great saint, Padre Pio.
He was a Capuchin friar.
He was a mystic.
He was a tremendous miracle worker.
So do stay tuned to find out more about Padre Pio and also to see what his intercession
could do for you.
We'd also like to encourage everyone.
We do have a mass said every Friday, and this mass is dedicated to Padre Pio.
If you enroll your mass pre-intentions, we will bring your intentions to this mass of
Padre Pio's.
We'd like everyone to participate in our postulate by liking our video and share the video with
your friends and colleagues.
Now, this story today was originally given to us by Monsignor John Esseff, himself.
At the time, he was living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
He shared this story of his meeting with Padre Pio for the first time, and this was in 1959.
When Father John Esseff first met Padre Pio, he was aware that there was Therese Neumann
and also Padre Pio who both had the stigmata on his hands, but still Padre Pio was seen
as quite a controversial figure.
Some people were saying things about Padre Pio that he had been banished from the priesthood,
and others were saying that his stigmata was self-inflicted.
So, they're still unsure.
And others, of course, were saying that Padre Pio is a living saint.
So, which was it?
And could he trust Padre Pio?
This is his experience, his encounter with Padre Pio for the first time.
Now at that time Father John Esseff only had a small grasp of Italian as it was spoken
in Rome, but he wasn't able to follow the dialect spoken in San Giovanni Rotondo.
Of that, he could not understand a word, but he had been given instructions.
When he arrived there, he must just say the word "Maria Pila."
And everyone, whoever was there, they would be able to direct him to the house of Mary
Pyle.
Now, Mary Pyle was an American heiress and she had given up absolutely everything, all
of her inheritance and her status in society in order to become Padre Pio's American secretary.
She spoke multiple languages so she was very beneficial.
She would meet and she would greet a lot of people, and she would offer hospitality to
the people and assistance to anyone, especially the English-speaking visitors.
So Father John Esseff did this.
He said, "Maria Pila," and immediately they pointed out the way to Mary Pyle's home, which
was quite near to Padre Pio's monastery.
And when he arrived there at her home, he received a very, very warm welcome, and she
invited him to stay for dinner.
And Padre Pio's nephew also joined them for dinner.
As they sat there eating, the door suddenly swung open and in walked Padre Pio himself.
Father John was completely surprised by this, this unexpected visit of Padre Pio.
And Padre Pio looked directly at Father John and said, "Who are you and why are you here?"
Not one of the curiosity seekers, wanted to know.
"No, not at all," Father John said.
And then Padre Pio walked up to Father John, to where he was sitting, and they continued
a conversation.
They spoke to each other for several minutes.
And then after that, Padre Pio turned around and he left.
He went through the door he had come in.
And of course Father John was very surprised by this so he turned to Mary Pyle and he asked
her, "Does Padre Pio often come to your house?"
And fortunately, Mary Pyle understood what had happened here and that Father John had
in fact received a very special blessing that was meant only for him.
So she added, "Padre Pio had something special for you and this sometimes happens, but none
of the rest of us saw him."
So you can imagine the shock of Father Esseff hearing this, that he was the only one who
had seen Padre Pio.
He could not comprehend this.
He had spoken to Padre Pio for several minutes and yet no one else had seen this or been
aware of this at all, of this conversation, even, that was going on.
Father John was completely mystified by this and adds, "I found the whole experience that
happened at dinner rather spooky.
I still do not know what to make of it," he says.
The following morning, they now wanted to attend Padre Pio's mass.
They got up very early at 2:30 AM in order to attend the mass.
And he said when they arrived at the church, there was already a crowd of at least 200
people waiting.
And then when Padre Pio came into the church and he walked up towards the sacristy at the
front, everyone knelt down.
And as Padre Pio walked past Father John, he stopped and he stared right at Father John.
He said it was a solemn, almost angry stare.
So what was he seeing?
Maybe Father John's future, with charism.
We are not sure, but everyone in the church of course watched him.
Father John tells us this carried on for about an hour, but afterwards another priest told
him, Father Robert told him, it was actually only about 15 minutes.
After that, Padre Pio went to pray.
He went up to a kneeler at the front of the church and he prayed there, preparing himself
for mass, making a good preparation.
And after this, Padre Pio stood up and now he was going to the vestry.
He was going to put on his robes for church, for mass.
And once again, he passed in front of Father John.
And he stopped again but this time it was different.
He said Padre Pio had a beautiful smile on his face.
And by this stage, Padre Pio had removed his gloves because he would have to say mass without
gloves on.
So Father John could see the stigmata on his hands.
And he said that there was light passing through, right through the wounds.
They appeared transparent to him.
And so Father John bent down and he kissed these wounds, which of course represent the
wounds of our Lord himself.
Padre Pio put his hand on Father John's head and gave him his blessing.
After that, the mass he said was completely...
It was unforgettable.
The church was packed and he said time just passed quickly.
And after mass, the local people, they knew that they would have to take cotton swabs
and they would go around the altar and they would clean up any blood that had fallen from
the wounds of Padre Pio's hands.
So the stigmata would open up and they would physically bleed during mass.
Only during mass and certain other times, because he was going through something like
the crucifixion itself.
And so these people, they obtained their own first cloth relics in this way.
Then after this Father John now wanted to go to confession with Padre Pio, but he was
told by Father Dominic that it would not be possible for at least two weeks, because there
was such a long queue waiting in front of him.
But Father Dominic could do something.
He would go and speak to Padre Pio.
And a short time later, he came back and he gave Father John a letter from Padre Pio.
And this was the message from Padre Pio, that if Father John ever needed Padre Pio's help,
he was to send his guardian angel and Padre Pio would help, and he would respond immediately.
After that, Father John Esseff, he went back to America where he kept up a very busy priestly
ministry.
He gave retreats for the Missionaries of Charity.
This was worldwide, so he had to travel all around the world.
He was also very close to Mother Theresa of India.
He was her confessor and he was a retreat director to all of her religious communities.
Father John was the creator as well of this program called Telespond.
And this was to address the needs of the elderly and also to advocate for the handicapped and
the retarded and the poor and the homeless.
So this is all of his priestly ministries, and he was kept very busy with this.
And as confessor and spiritual director to all of these people, he often faced, Father
John often faced some very difficult cases not easy to work out.
He was certainly needing Padre Pio's help and guidance in this.
And not knowing the right words even to say, he would send his angel, his guardian angel,
to Padre Pio.
And he said, "The answer would always follow."
The answer would just somehow come to him after that.
And he continued like this, sending his guardian angel, and he feels that Padre Pio was ever
present there to counsel him and help him through his many, many years.
Then next time on this channel, we can have a look at a story on the effects of Padre
Pio's relic.
This is a story about a healing, tremendous healing.
So please do join us for that.
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