Today's story's on Padre Pio's transverberation.
What on earth is transverberation? Well, it's a very rare, mystical
phenomena shared by only a handful of people, and Padre Pio was one of them.
Good day to you all. My name is Edward Urban, and today we have another fantastic story about
Padre Pio, on how he received one of the stigmata, which is the mystical wounds of
our Lord's crucifixion. If you have not already subscribed to our channel, then please subscribe
and click the notifications bell, too. One day, Jesus appeared to Padre Pio in an
ecstasy and said it to him, "My son, love is recognized through suffering,
and this you will feel acutely in your soul and more acutely in your body." Imagine. What on
earth did that mean? The transverberation followed shortly thereafter. It is one of those mystical
phenomenon that has only been received by very few others, St. John of the Cross, Saint Teresa
of Avila and Saint Th r se of the Infant Jesus. It is usually associated with Carmelite spirituality,
and it is a little bit bizarre. So please, brace yourself; buckle up, and do not go anywhere.
Padre Pio wrote this, and he said in 1918, he was hearing the confession of the boys of
the school where he was teaching, when he was terrorized by the sight of a celestial person
who presented in his mind's eye, as he put it. He says this being had in his hand a sort of weapon
with a long, sharp blade, pointed steel blade, which seemed to emit fire. It sounds an absolutely
terrifying spectacle. Padre Pio continues, at the very instant he saw this vision, he saw the
person, this being, hurl the weapon right into Padre Pio's soul with all his might. Padre Pio
cried out with difficulty. He said, "I felt like I was dying." He asked the boy whose confession he
was hearing to, "Please, you'd have to come back later," because he was unable to continue.
Padre Pio said this agony lasted a further two days until the morning of the 7th. And
Padre Pio says, "I cannot tell you how much I suffered. Even my internal organs were torn and
ruptured by the weapon. Nothing was spared, and from that day on, I have been mortally wounded.
I feel in the depths of my soul a wound that is always open and which causes continual agony."
This comes from the confidential letters between Padre Pio and his spiritual director,
which obviously opened later on. In this letter to Padre Benedetto,
he says he was not speaking metaphorically, but he had been physically wounded,
and the wound in his side would bleed, in fact, for the rest of his life,
which was something like 50 years or more. After receiving the wound of the transverberation,
Padre Pio remained in bed for three days, the pain and weakness were so intense.
Now, St. John of the Cross, as we said, had a similar experience. He describes
the transverberation like this. He says, "The transverberation has often been referred to as
the seraphim's assault or the mystical wound of love. It is the wound that is both mystical and
physical in nature. In the transverberation, the individual receives a visitation of a celestial
being, that is an angel, such as an angel or seraph, who then pierces the heart or the side
of the person with a lance or a sword." This comes from his book, Living Flame of Love.
As Padre Pio said, "I feel in the depths of my soul a wound that is always opened and
which causes continual agony." But you can imagine the absolute shock of receiving an
experience like this totally out of the blue. So fortunately, Padre Pio had a good spiritual
director who was able to advise him on this. Padre Benedetto wrote back to Padre Pio, saying,
"All that is happening to you is the affect of love. It is a trial, a vocation to co-redemption
and hence a source of glory. The Lord is with you." Then he says, "He is associated.
The Lord is associated with your suffering and associates you with his own suffering." That's
obviously in the Garden of Gethsemane. Padre Benedetto then advises, "Kiss the hand that has
pierced you through and cherish most tenderly this wound, which is the pledge of his love."
This comes from the letters, and it is the advice of the spiritual director of Padre Pio.
Were there any witnesses to this wound in Padre Pio's side? Well, only a very small group of
people through the years were privileged to see the wound near Padre Pio's heart. One of them was
a Padre Pellegrino, who was Padre Pio's personal assistant at the time. Padre Pio had lost a
button off his shirt and asked Padre Pellegrino to please sew this button back on. Ge says that when
Padre Pio took off his shirt, Padre Pellegrino got a close look at the wound. This is how he
described it: He says it was about two-and-a-half inches long and an inch wide and very deep.
Another witness was Padre Ussovio Notte, who in 1960, so that is something like 40 years later,
Padre Pio had fallen on the floor and was injured. Consequently, Padre Pio's habit and
undershirt had to be changed. When the undershirt was removed, then Padre Ussovio saw the wound. He
says it was near his heart. It was on the left hand side and was bleeding at the time, that is
40 years later. He said that the shape was that of an oblique cross. That is like a
cross on its side. Padre Ussovio says, "I will never forget his gashed chest."
There were two doctors who also examined Padre Pio close to the time when the actual transverberation
happened. One was a Dr. Luigi Romanelli. He was head physician at the Hospital of Barletta;
and Dr. Giorgio Festa, who was from Rome. They both examined Padre Pio's wounds. Both doctors
describe it as an oblique cross in shape with one cross bow wider and the other narrower. They said
the doctors removed a piece of cloth that had been placed over the wound the previous day,
and they said it was soaked with blood. Dr. Romanelli, then he conducted five
more examinations and he described it as having the appearance of a gash or a stab,
and he was saying Padre Pio has a very deep cut on the fifth intercostal, that is
space between the ribs on the left hand side, and he described it as seven or eight centimeters
long parallel to the ribs. "The depth," he says, "is great. But it is difficult to ascertain"
Dr. Festa examined Padre Pio again a number of times at a later date, and he reports that he saw,
listen to this, "Luminous rays emanating from the borders of the wound." He describes it
as "a brief but evident radiation of light that emerged from the contours of the wound.
Not only was the blood shining with small rays of light," he says, "but it also emitted a fragrant
perfume and that is the odor of sanctity." Now, Padre Pio's superiors wrote to each other now
discussing what is going on. Padre Benedetto wrote to a Padre Augustino and described Padre Pio's
wound as follows: He said, "It is a real gash which continually oozes blood or a bloody liquid.
On Fridays, it is real blood." So why do you think on Fridays?
"When I saw him, he could only pull himself to his feet with difficulty," he says. "The
side wound causes Padre Pio intense suffering." Another time Padre Pio wrote two Padre Benedetto
and he said the following: "The heart wound bleeds continuously, especially from Thursday
evening right through to Saturday." So it's all of Friday, basically. And he's, "Dear Father,
I'm dying of pain because of the wound and the resulting embarrassment I feel in my soul." He
was embarrassed. He didn't want people to see or to know anything about these wounds. Then
Padre Pio continues: "I am afraid I shall bleed to death if the Lord does not hear my
heartfelt supplication to relieve me of this condition." So that is what Padre Pio wanted,
to be cured of this, but it lasted another 50 years. There were other witnesses, too,
but we don't have time to go into all of that. So now we may ask why? What was the meaning or the
purpose of the transverberation? Obviously, it was a stigmata or a mystical wound where
the lance had been thrust into our Lord Jesus Christ's side. Following this transverberation,
Padre Pio experienced a burning love for God that flowed from his heart and at times, seemed to
totally overpower him. On January the 29th, 1919, Padre Pio wrote to Padre Benedetto: "Dear Father,
I feel I am drowning in the immense ocean of the love of my beloved. I feel I am being surfeited
continually with it. Yet, the bitterness of this love has a sweetness and its burden is light.
But this does not prevent my soul from feeling the immense transport of this love. I have no
means to bear its immense weight, so that I feel annihilated and vanquished. My small heart is
incapable of containing this immense love. "It is true that it is inside and outside of
me. But dear God, when you pour yourself into the little vase of my being, I suffer the agony
of not being able to contain you. You have vanquished me. You have burned my insides.
You have placed a river of fire in me." This comes from the letters of correspondence, once again.
Another time, Padre Pio says, "I confess, unable to express an ever active volcano which burns me
up and which Jesus has placed in this very small heart of mine. I am consumed by love
of God and love of neighbor. God is continually fixed in my mind and imprinted in my heart."
I find it absolutely incredible. Padre Pio uses phrases to describe this like rivers of fire,
oceans of fire, an ever-active volcano to describe the burning love of God placed in
him after this transverberation. Now, we may ask exactly why do did
this transverberation happen? Our Lord draws these intercessors, these people close to
himself through experiences like that so that they can intercede on our behalf.
That is why we ask Padre Pio pray for us, because the prayers of a saint are powerful.