Dónal Enright, a witness to many miracles of Padre Pio, when Padre Pio lived on this earth, and now as St. Pio intercedes for us from his heavenly home

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“You must return to your child” said Padre Pio to a young man who had come to see him. Padre Pio could ‘read souls’ and knew when he met this young man that he had previously fathered a child with his wife, but had left the mother to bring the little boy up by herself. The young man had not expected the friar to be so direct – and to know that out there was a mother with a little boy who did not know his father. “You must return to your child” repeated Padre Pio. The young man left his other mistress and returned to his wife. 

I learned this account (and many others) from one Dónal Enright, native of Passage West, Co. Cork when I visited him. Dónal is almost finished writing an epic book on his time with Padre Pio. The book will include many pro-life stories, and gripping revelations of how Padre Pio intervened to save babies from abortion. Dónal gives talks and receives visitors to his home and describes miracles worked by Padre Pio. We may ask why these particular miracles have not been documented in a book by Dónal previous to this, but some things are more for our times than others. Perhaps it was never so relevant and necessary that we hear, now, about how one of the best saints of all time stepped in and told people not to abort. I will be writing more about this. 

Dónal was entrusted with relics of Padre Pio’s. Dónal’s apostolate of bringing Padre Pio’s mitt to many sick and suffering hit the headlines when an Irish teenager survived a gun blast to her head. Sophie Finucane was shot in the head while she slept and her skull cracked in three places. Sophie was initially given a half a per cent chance of surviving. But to the astonishment of the medical staff, she woke from a ten day coma with no brain damage or memory loss. But Dónal Enright travelled to Sophie’s bedside, blessed Sophie with Padre Pio’s mitt, after which she rapidly went from critical to stable. 

Sophie then woke up and took her father’s hand.  Sophie’s father described the miracle as, “Padre reached out to Donal and he passed that strength on to us and to Sophie.” You may read a report in the secular press of Sophie’s miraculous recovery here, where Dónal is described as ‘a close friend’ of Padre Pio’s. As all of us who pray to Padre Pio know, we may all be close friends of this heroic saint.