Born Francesco Forgione, Padre Pio grew up in a family of farmers in southern Italy. At the age of 15, Francesco joined the Capuchins and took the name of Pio. He was ordained in 1910 and was drafted during World War I. After he was discovered to have tuberculosis, he was discharged. In 1917, he was assigned to the friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, 75 miles from the city of Bari on the Adriatic.On September 20, 1918, as he was making his thanksgiving after Mass, Padre Pio had a vision of Jesus. When the vision ended, he had the stigmata (the wounds of Christ) in his hands, feet, and side.Life became more complicated after that. Medical doctors, Church authorities, and curiosity seekers came to see Padre Pio. In 1924, and again in 1931, the authenticity of the stigmata was questioned; Padre Pio was not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to hear confessions. He did not complain of these decisions, which were soon reversed. However, he wrote no letters after 1924. His only other writing, a pamphlet on the agony of Jesus, was done before 1924.Padre Pio rarely left the friary after he received the stigmata, but busloads of people soon began coming to see him. Each morning after a 5 a.m. Mass in a crowded church, he heard confessions until noon. He took a mid-morning break to bless the sick and all who came to see him. Every afternoon he also heard confessions. In time his confessional ministry would take 10 hours a day; penitents had to take a number so that the situation could be handled. Many of them have said that Padre Pio knew details of their lives that they had never mentioned. Padre Pio saw Jesus in all the sick and suffering. At his urging, a fine hospital was built on nearby Mount Gargano. This "House for the Alleviation of Suffering" has 350 beds.Countless people have reported cures they believe were received through the intercession of Padre Pio. Those who assisted at his Masses came away edified; many curiosity seekers were converted. Like Saint Francis, Padre Pio sometimes had his habit torn or cut by souvenir hunters.One of Padre Pio's sufferings was that unscrupulous people several times circulated prophecies that they claimed originated from him. He never made prophecies about world events and never gave an opinion on matters that he felt belonged to Church authorities to decide. He died on September 23, 1968, was beatified in 1999, and canonized a saint in 2002.This book on St Padre Pio includes the following: Padre Pio Receiving the Stigmata; His Childhood; Hearing Confessions; Padre Pio on Modern Day Fashions; On Sins of Impurity; He Restores Sight to the Blind; A Girl Born without Pupils Now Sees; Bilocation; His Relationship with Angels; Padre Pio on the Devil; The Great Tortures the Demons Inflicted upon Padre Pio; His Sufferings; Lack of Food and Sleep; Padre Pio and Prayer; Padre Pio on the Blessed Mother and the Rosary; Padre Pio on the Rosary as "the Weapon"; Visions Given to Padre Pio; Padre Pio and Purgatory; Heaven; On the Church; The Justice of God; The Spirit of the World; Souls Being Lost to Hell; On Spiritual Reading; On People Who Seek the Extraordinary; On Getting to Heaven and the Few Who are Saved; On the Faith; On Pride; Padre Pio on the Mass; On Receiving Communion; Padre Pio on Marriage; The End of Padre Pio's Life; His Beatification and his Canonization by Pope John Paul II as St Pio of Pietrelcina. Fourteen photos are included in the book.