Today we're going to be having a look at two short stories on the testimonies on Padre
Pio.
And in the first one, we can ask the question can being with a saint get one into trouble?
And here Padre Pio had said to someone, "Go home immediately."
So how does this all fit together?
In the second story, a light shone around Padre Pio.
We know Jesus has said he was the light of the world.
So halos, do they really exist?
Let's investigate these two stories.
Hello, friends, and welcome to this channel following Padre Pio.
And here we have a series of short stories on the life of our great Saint Padre Pio.
He was a Capuchin friar.
He was a mystic, a tremendous miracle worker.
Do stay tuned to find out more about his life and to see what his intercession can do for
you.
We do encourage everyone to enroll your mass prayer petitions, because we have a mass every
Friday dedicated to Padre Pio.
We bring your petitions to Padre Pio in this mess.
All you have to do is to enroll your petitions, and you can see the video on the end screen
how to do that.
We ask everyone as well to be part of this Padre Pio apostolate, and it would be tremendous
if you would help us by liking the video and sharing the video with your friends, with
your colleagues.
Now, in the first story, Padre Pio said to Paulette, "Go home at once."
So why did he say this?
what's going on here?
Now, Paulette Bertels, she was from Antwerp in Belgium, and she had been able to make
this trip to San Giovanni Rotondo in 1965.
But she had to be back for December the 25th, because she had to conduct the cathedral choir
in Antwerp.
Of course, Paulette was enjoying her time in San Giovanni Rotondo, and so she did not
want to leave until it was absolutely necessary, until the last moment.
Every moment for her with Padre Pio in the presence of Padre Pio was something precious.
And then Padre Pio came up to her, and this was now the 22nd of December, still three
days to go before Christmas, and he spoke to her and he told her, "Go home."
She was very surprised, and so she protested, "Padre Pio, I want to stay here as long as
it is possible.
I still have time to be here a little longer before going back to Belgium."
But he replied.
Padre Pio said this, "Go home at once."
He was insistent, and Paulette understood.
She realized something urgent, an urgent message was being given to her, so she listened.
She obeyed Padre Pio.
She caught the first taxi back to Foggia, the nearest big town main center.
And then from there, she went to the railway station, where the situation turned out to
be very different from what she had expected.
She saw the station master who asked her, "Where are you going?"
She replied, "To Milan, on my way home to Belgium."
And his response was, "You are very lucky.
This is the last train that will be leaving for Milan before the railway strike."
And so if she had not been on that train, she would certainly not have made it in time
for the Christmas mass in Belgium.
And of course, at this, Paulette remembered how insistent Padre Pio had been.
And now she understood, of course, fully why what was behind it.
Padre Pio could not humanly speaking have known that there was going to be a strike
and that the trains would stop that day.
So it seems he had a hotline to heaven.
He received some divine knowledge.
Our second story, Padre Pio said to this fellow called Nando, "Never offend the Lord again."
Just curious, why would he say this?
What were the circumstances behind it?
And in January, 1961, Nando Omelay had made this trip to San Giovanni Rotondo, and he
was able to make his confession to Padre Pio.
Now, at that time, apparently confessions were held in the sacristy, the old sacristy,
as it was known, in the Church of Our Lady of Graces.
It was pretty structured format.
There was another Capuchin who was in charge of people entering the sacristy, and only
10 people were allowed at a time.
They would go and they'd sit on the bench waiting their turn.
And the sacristy was divided in half by a curtain.
So when you went for your confession, you'd go behind the curtain and be directly in front
of Padre Pio.
And so Nando, he knelt down in front of Padre Pio to have his confession heard.
Padre Pio said to him in a calm voice, "So how long has it been since your last confession?"
So that's the first thing they want to know, and he told Padre Pio, he responded what it
was.
And then Padre Pio asked him just to go ahead and to confess his sins.
That's what it involves, basically.
At the conclusion of the confession, however, Nando tells us that something quite extraordinary
happened, and we'll give this in Nando's own words.
And he said, "I had hardly finished my confession when a bright light of rays descended on Padre
Pio."
He said, "This light was strange in that it only lit up the body of Padre Pio and did
not even spread a centimeter beyond."
So lit nothing else up around Padre Pio.
And all of the rest of the sacrastry, he tells us, remained in semi-darkness.
And he continues, "The light that surrounded Padre Pio, it lasted for about 30 seconds."
He says, "As I stared at Padre Pio, I realized that, in fact, he was having a vision."
And Nando observed that during those sacred moments, Padre Pio's face had become quite
bright red.
And when the light disappeared, it was after 30 seconds, then Padre Pio seemed startled
as if he was awakening from a dream.
And he said to Nando, "Who are you?
And where do you come from?"
And Nando replied that he was from Rome.
He lived in Rome.
Then Padre Pio said to him in a gentle voice, "You come from Rome?
Well, let me advise you to never offend the Lord again."
After that, he gave Nando his final blessing and with his parting words, "Now go in peace."
And so if what Nando had seen was real, then this halo around Padre Pio, it seems to be
something similar to what happened to our Lord on Mount Tabor, the Transfiguration.
And soon we can have another video on Padre Pio.
Please do join us for that video.
And here we are going to be asking the question can we mix pagan, Wiccan type practices with
faith in God?
Are they compatible?
So what would Padre Pio say about this?