And today let's look at Padre Pio's weapon, an example of its effectiveness, of its efficacy
we can say, and that is the Rosary.
Hello friends and welcome to our channel Following Padre Pio where through a series of short
stories we take a look into the life of our great saint.
He was a Capuchin friar, mystic, a tremendous miracle worker and that is Saint Padre Pio.
So do stay tuned to find out more about Padre Pio and to see what his intercession can do
for all of us, for you and for your loved ones.
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Now we've already seen in a previous video how Padre Pio received the Rosary.
It was given to him by Our Lady after having this vision.
He saw a violent, hostile crowd surrounding his monastery and they were blaspheming and
they were calling for Padre Pio's head, and with a Rosary in hand, this diabolical crowd
fell to the ground and they were defeated.
So from then on Padre Pio referred to this as his weapon and Padre Pio and his Rosary
were now inseparable.
Now, as the month of Our Lady draws to a close, let us consider an incredible example, which
certainly seems to confirm Padre Pio's weapon, that idea, and I'm hoping this is going to
give all of us some food for thought.
Now, did you know that much of Austria was under the iron curtain?
So they really experienced atheistic, communist-style clampdowns in a brutal form that might remind
us even of Shanghai today.
So what's the difference?
What was their solution, their secret to shaking this off?
And perhaps many of us have just never heard of the story of Austria actually being under
the iron curtain and that is because of one single person, a Father Petrus Pavlicek, and
with his weapon, the Rosary.
Now, after World War II Austria was divided up by the Allies and the eastern half of the
country, and that included Vienna, came under the control of the Soviets and very significantly
right up until 1991 the Soviets had never lost a single nation but with Austria they
did.
So what happened differently here?
And this is the story.
Now, Father Pavlicek was inspired by the words of Our Lady of F tima where she said that
the actions of men would just not be enough.
Only she could help us, through the Rosary, and if we did what she asked of us she said
many souls would be saved and there would be peace.
So Father Petrus would always say, because of this, peace is a gift from God and it is
not the work of politicians.
Now, in World War II, Father Pavlicek had been conscripted into the German army and
it was on a significant feast day, May 13th, and he was sent to the front.
So it appears that somehow he was always under Our Lady's protection as significant things
seem to happen in his life on Our Lady's feast days as if she had some plan in mind for him.
And he was captured at the Front and he became an American prisoner of war.
And it was in this prisoner of war camp that Father Pavlicek learned about Our Lady's apparition
and the message of F tima.
Then on July 16th, that is 1945, it was also the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, another
feast day, and Father Pavlicek was released now from the prisoner of war camp.
And after this he immediately set out and he made a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, a
well known shrine, Marienzel in Austria.
There he wanted to thank Our Lady for her protection during the war and also to seek
what was the will of God.
And so when he was there praying at Marienzel on February 2nd, that is the feast of the
Presentation, now the feast of Our Lady, Mary spoke to him in a very direct and a clear
voice saying, "Do as I say and there will be peace."
So that became the dominant theme in his life.
After the war, much of Austria, as we said, had fallen behind the iron curtain but Father
Pavlicek was inspired by these words of Our Lady and he began gathering people in villages
and towns and cities all over across the Soviet controlled Austria on the 13th of each month
to pray the Rosary together in public.
And he gave the name to this, to these gatherings to pray the Rosary, his Rosary Crusade.
At first, of course, people were quite frightened and they got very few people joining in the
Rosaries but they gained strength when they saw other people joining and this gave them
hope.
And so support for this Rosary Crusade it continued over time to ebb and flow but eventually,
over time, over half a million people, that is 1 in 10 Austrians, they had actually pledged
to join in this Rosary Crusade.
And yet, despite this, their faith was still put to the test.
It was tried right until the very end and eight years later, with half a million Austrians
praying, Father Petrus continued to persevere.
During this time the politicians had been through 260 peace conferences with the Soviets
and it all seemed to no avail because the Cold War continued to intensify and the Russians
tightened their iron grip on Austria.
So human effort, as Father Pavlicek had said, was just insufficient to change the course
of history and to bring about peace.
And then in 1955 something strange happened.
The Soviet governors of Austria, they invited the Austrians to a conference.
Now, they were fearing the worst, that their nation's fate, Austria's fate, was somehow
to be sealed in this meeting.
So the prime minister, Raab, he entreated Father Pavlicek, "Pray.
Please pray and ask your people to pray even harder."
And then to the world's great surprise the Soviets announced that they would withdraw
their troops from Austria in just three months and on May 15th, which is the month of Mary
of course, the Soviets, they signed a treaty guaranteeing the independence of Austria.
And in October, the month of the Rosary, the last Russian soldier had now left Austrian
soil.
And at this the multitudes were just so overjoyed and they marched in processions with candles
and Rosaries in hand and carrying the statue of Our Lady of F tima that they saw as their
deliverer from this oppression.
And the prime minister announced, "Today, we whose hearts are full of faith, we cry
out to heaven in joyful prayer.
We are free.
Oh, Mary, we thank thee."
And so just to conclude, we may vastly underestimate the power of this Rosary.
It is so simple and brief just offering 1% of our day yet the Rosary has proven to be
the force which has driven away evil forces from countries where all human efforts have
failed.
It is also a school of prayer and a formation of virtue.
And as Our Lady said at F tima, "Pray the Rosary every day for I am able to help you."
Interesting fact, Father Pavlicek's youth was misspent until one day he was struck with
a life-threatening illness and then he had this striking conversion.
And so there is always hope.
Our Lady likes to choose sometimes her children, sometimes the most wayward children, to do
the greatest thing.
This was the case with Father Petrus Pavlicek.
So I hope you'll agree that's quite an incredible story that happened, something that can send
shivers down one's spine.
And it does seem to confirm Padre Pio's statement, "Bring me my weapon, which is the Rosary."
Coming soon.
We are going to have a look at how Padre Pio received the stigmata, that is the wounds
of our Lord's crucifixion on his hands, his feet and in his side.
Please do join us for that video.
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