Padre Pio gave Frank Cavicchi a special task but it just seemed impossible, obstacles all
the way.
So what are the odds of all of these obstacles suddenly being removed?
Going to let you decide.
Hello, friends and welcome to our channel Following Padre Pio.
Through a series of short stories we present the life of Padre Pio, he's our great saint,
he's a Capuchin friar, a mystic, a tremendous miracle worker.
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Now, in today's story there is a Frank Cavicchi who held Padre Pio in the very highest esteem.
One day after he had made his confession to Padre Pio, Padre Pio spoke to him and said,
"When you go home I want you to form a Prayer Group."
Frank agreed to this although he suspected that he didn't really know how to do it, that
it was not going to be an easy task.
And the truth is Frank really did not know what to do, how to organize a group, or how
he was going to accomplish this.
Padre Pio said to him, "Do not worry too much about it because you will manage."
It was as if Padre Pio had really read his mind.
Later on, Frank happened to run into a Miss Lucibelli who was from Padre Pio's hospital,
which of course was the headquarters of all of Padre Pio's Prayer Groups in the world.
She listened to the story that Padre Pio had given Frank, this special request, and told
him, encouraged him, not to worry about it because, "Padre Pio knows what he's doing
and if he has given you this job he will certainly help you."
Then she also gave Frank a little booklet with detailed information about these Prayer
Groups.
So Frank studied this booklet and he realized there were two important things.
He needed to get permission from his bishop of his diocese and also he had to have a priest
as the spiritual director of this Prayer Group.
Then Frank returned to his hometown which was Vittoria Veneto and that was about 70
kilometers north of Venice.
Then he was able to set up an appointment with his bishop, Albino Luciani and during
this interview, this meeting, the bishop listened to Frank's whole request.
At the end of it he absolutely refused because the bishop had had some bad experiences with
Prayer Groups in the past so he felt strongly about this.
He was not going to allow Frank's request, despite this request having come from Padre
Pio himself.
Frank tried to persuade him but it was impossible to change the bishop's mind.
So naturally Frank felt very disappointed at the end of this, did not even want to tell
this to Padre Pio, this bad news.
So it looked like his special mission had just come to an end, right there, a roadblock
across the road before he had even started.
Well, two months later, Frank Cavicchi was back in San Giovanni Rotondo and, once again,
he had the opportunity to meet with Padre Pio.
"What can I do?"
Frank asked.
"I tried to organize a Prayer Group but Bishop Luciani will not give permission."
Padre Pio's response, "Do not do anything.
He will call you.
You shall have permission from the Patriarch."
Frank realized this is a little strange, it's his bishop, it's not the Patriarch.
Padre Pio had made a mistake.
He had slipped up on his facts and so he corrected him.
"The Patriarch you refer to has nothing to do with it.
He's not the bishop of my diocese.
The Patriarch is the bishop of Venice.
The bishop of my diocese is Bishop Albino Luciani.
He is the one who must give permission to us."
But Padre Pio repeated his mysterious words, "As I told you, you shall have permission
from the Patriarch."
Sounds a little odd.
Sometime later, this was September 1968, and now Padre Pio passed away.
Nothing had happened with the Prayer Group and then almost one year to the day later,
on practically the anniversary of Padre Pio's death, Frank suddenly received a phone call
from the bishop's office in his hometown and they wanted to speak to him.
So when Frank arrived he was actually surprised.
He was delighted to discover that the bishop wanted to, he was expressing, a sincere interest
now in this idea of the Prayer Group.
He asked Frank to send him all of the information possible for him to study this information,
so everything was suddenly looking positive.
So, as we said, it was one year to the day, practically, after Padre Pio's death.
A short time later, Frank heard that Bishop Luciani had now been appointed to the Patriarch
as the Patriarch of Venice.
This was a very prestigious step up for him.
And the words of Padre Pio came to mind, that he shall receive permission from the Patriarch
of Venice.
And then not long after that, Frank again met Bishop Luciani, who told him, "You now
have my permission to organize your Prayer Group but I entreat you not to allow any members
who are fanatical."
So obviously, as we said, something must have happened in the past.
Some fanatical Prayer Group members had been a bad experience for him.
And so Frank of course gave him his assurance, no fanatical members, and also told him what
Padre Pio had said to him that, "You would be appointed as the Patriarch of Venice."
And at this, the Bishop just smiled.
And in 1973 the Bishop Albino Luciani was elevated to Cardinal and Cardinal Luciani
was elected Pope, and this was in August 1978, and he was Pope John Paul I.
Now, we know that Pope John Paul I reigned for only 33 days but in this short period
of time Frank was able to meet him in Rome.
He was part of a pilgrimage from the hometown Vittoria Veneto down to San Giovanni Rotondo
and they just happened to stop in Rome and during this time he was able to greet Pope
John Paul I.
So I hope you'll agree there's a lot of coincidences in this story.
On the 10th year anniversary of Padre Pio's death his prophecy had come true.
What are the odds of this?
Coming soon, we have another story, one on Aurilio Montalvo, so please do join us for
that story.
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