Closer to Jesus

PARSIPPANY  Some people came to pray to God for healing, for help with a wayward family member, for forgiveness or to give thanks. Still others came to honor the Blessed Mother or venerate the saints — or were attracted by spiritual curiosity.

For these and many other reasons, an untold number of Catholics from the Diocese and beyond descended on St. Peter the Apostle Church here throughout the day on Sept. 20 to be part of a historic local event: the public veneration of the relics of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. The faithful filed steadily into the church’s main aisle to stand before and touch their religious articles to five wooden reliquaries on a table in front of its altar that held first-class relics of St. Pio, while praying for their intentions through the Italian saint’s intercession. Many faith­ful professed a devotion to St. Pio, whose life was marked by long hours in prayer, continual austerity and immense physical and spiritual suffering — including bearing the stigmata, wounds that corresponded to Jesus’ wounds at his crucifixion — for the last 50 years of his life. The event at St. Peter’s commemorated the 50th anniversary of the death of St. Pio, affectionately known as “Padre Pio.”

“I’m here with my prayers and the prayers of my co-workers. I am raising them up. I’m very impressed with Padre Pio’s relics,” said Alexandria Trombley of St. Therese Parish, Succasunna, admissions coordinator at Merry Heart Assisted Living, also in Succasunna, who professed a devotion to the saint. That day, she and other pilgrims venerated relics of St. Pio’s glove, scabs of his wounds, cotton-gauze with his bloodstains, a lock of his hair, his mantle and his handkerchief soaked with his sweat hours before he had died. “A while ago, I prayed to Padre Pio through God. Then, Padre told me something that I didn’t want to hear: ‘It’s your job to love and pray for him [her difficult family member].’ I see this person as a lost brother, who needs my prayers. I remember that Christ loves him and that I also need to love and pray for him,” she said.

From 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. that day, worshippers approached the table to pray, often kneeling before the relics, touching and kissing them; touching religious articles, such as prayer cards and crucifixes, to them; and, often with curiosity, taking photos of them on their mobile phones. A sign on the wall of the vestibule declared that religious articles that are touched to the first-class relics that are being venerated become third-class relics. The event — held before St. Pio’s feast day on Sept. 24 — ended with 7 p.m. Mass in honor of the saint — also known for his deep union with Jesus and devotion to Mary and the Eucharist — celebrated by Msgr. Herbert Tillyer, St. Peter’s pastor.

Covered by a St. Pio banner, the table with the relics was flanked by one of the many volunteers for the event and an honor guard from the Knights of Columbus. Many volunteers waited in the doorways and aisles to guide visitors around the church. The visitors were priests, religious and laity, including people in wheelchairs, walkers and canes; mothers with children; and students from local Catholic schools, including All Saints Academy, located across the parking lot from St. Peter the Apostle Church. Some took the opportunity to go to Confession, heard by priests in the church.

“Many people, who have medical issues came today. One man told me that he had pancreatic cancer, prayed to Padre Pio and was cured with no medical explanation. But we know: it was God with Padre Pio’s intercession,” Mary Ellen Dinsmore, a volunteer, told The Beacon. “Devotion to Padre Pio is growing. This day has been uplifting for all of us,” she said.

Throughout the day, worshippers listened to a series of meditations by St. Pio that volunteers delivered regularly from the church ambo, after having led them in praying decades of the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary. Volunteers prayed the Angelus at noon and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 p.m. with music led by Theresa Steinel of the music ministry of St. Christopher Parish, also in Parsippany. Msgr. Tillyer opened the event at 8:30 a.m. by presiding over the Rite of the Reception of the Relics with prayers, including the Litany of the Saints.

In the church’s narthex, faithful crowded around a table that displayed books and religious items for sale that is related to St. Pio, including articles that could be touched to the relics. The proceeds go to the work of the non-profit St. Pio Foundation, which sponsored the event. It promotes awareness of the saint and his charism nationally and internationally by working with institutions and individuals who share the same vision to serve those in need of relief of suffering. The visitation of the relics to the Diocese marks one of the stops on the foundation’s tour of the U.S. this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the saint’s death, said Deborah Brannon, a foundation representative.

“For most people here today, this is the first time that they’ve seen St. Pio’s relics,” said Brannon, noting that Bishop Serratelli made a request for the relics to visit the Diocese and the foundation complied with his request. “The relics help bring people closer to Christ through St. Pio’s intercession. The relics enable them to walk with hope that the Lord will answer their prayers,” she said.

That afternoon, Theresa Sunach of St. Peter’s sat in a wheelchair in an aisle in prayer, during the event. “I’m so grateful and glad to be here today,” Sunach said. “I’m praying for my family. I know that Padre Pio — and God — will hear my prayers,” she said.

Born on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina in southern Italy, St. Pio was ordained a priest in the Capuchin Franciscan order in 1910. On Sept. 20, 1918 the five wounds of Our Lord’s passion appeared on his body, making him the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Catholic Church. Countless persons were attracted to his confessional and many more received his saintly counsel and spiritual guidance through correspondence. He built a Home for the Relief of Suffering for the sick in 1956, according to his biography on the foundation’s website.

St. Padre Pio died on Sept. 23, 1968. Increasing numbers from all parts of the world flock to his tomb and many testify to spiritual and temporal graces they have received. St. Pope John Paul II beatified him on May 2, 1999 and canonized him a saint on June 16, 2002.

The event closed with a well-attended Mass in St. Peter’s that included singing by the parish choir. Msgr. Tillyer told The Beacon that St. Peter’s has a connection to St. Pio through Msgr. Leo Fanning, who formerly served at the parish and died in 2008. He was influenced to a pursue a priestly vocation after meeting the future saint while serving in the U.S. military in Italy during World War II. Msgr. Fanning helped establish the St. Padre Pio Prayer Group at St. Peter’s, which still meets regularly, Msgr. Tillyer said.

“Sometimes, we have difficulty connecting to the suffering and death of Christ but it will come to us — suffering and death. We gain redemption by connecting with his suffering and death. Also, Jesus asks us to bring our sufferings to him,” Msgr. Tillyer said in his homily at the closing Mass. “Padre Pio lived the suffering of Jesus through the stigmata. We can get closer to Jesus through Padre Pio,” he said.