WHEN PADRE PIO PUT A SHAWL OF INCENSE AROUND ME

 

A very close friend of mine passed away and had always had a prayer request in his soul that he did not tell me outright but which he prayed for nonetheless - especially at Holy Mass. Some years after his passing, I was living in London and preparing for a luncheon with his family. I prayed to Padre Pio that the day would go well, actually that I'd be able to make all my train connections and then do my best by his loved ones when I was with them. I was getting ready to go out, when a shawl of incense came around me, but it was not incense of this world, it had no woody, smokey notes, rather it was a most pure myrrh. There was nothing in the vicinity that could have emitted the smell. But that day, I found out that his prayer request had been answered in full, not when he lived, but in the years after. 

Then recently, a friend of mine was exceedingly concerned about a relative of theirs and a particular issue they are having and they sat down to write me an old fashioned letter on crisp white paper with blue ink. They had previously told me nothing of their relative's exact difficulty - a sensitive matter that they thought was best put in a confidential letter.  But they felt like reaching out because they had already prayed so much and wanted support. 

They were about to send the letter the following Monday - the stamp was on. But over the weekend, I felt Pio's presence very strongly, telling me to pray for the relative and giving me details of their situation. I could not have made it up. Pio went further, he instructed me to contact this beautiful soul then and there and tell them that I knew what they wanted of me. I took out my laptop and sent off an email, assuring them that I was already praying for their relative and I also mentioned their needs. The minute that I did, a shawl of incense enveloped me.  When I next met my friend, they showed me the letter that was dated before I sent the email, and they were astounded as to how I could have known the person and the precise intention. I explained as to Pio's intervention and the incense. I assured them that incense accompanies an answered prayer, but that the person who prays will not see the result that quickly. Essentially, the slow burning incense represents that a grace will come, but that patience in prayer is required. 

They still gave me their letter. An actual document that pre-dates the email and is proof of sorts. This was a gift to me because it gave me much needed encouragement to finish my book on Padre Pio. Incense is one of the more unusual scents that is given to someone asking Pio's aid and many of his followers do not know of it. 

I can't count how many people I've known who have been greeted with the perfume of roses and violets which has signified Pio's intercession usually with a miraculous healing of the body or his urgent help. The blood weeping from his stigmata smelled of roses and violets and those of you who have inhaled this celestial bouquet are also smelling the wounds that graced Pio's hand, feet and side. I myself have never smelled roses or violets, but something that I document in my book is that I've smelled tobacco, cigar smoke, almond cake and once very strong vanilla and I give the meaning behind these fragrances; for one thing tobacco is danger - there is a warning in the whiff and that is certainly true of the situation that I was in when I was met with intensely aromatic tobacco. 

There are, I'm sure, more fragrances from Pio than I'm aware of, and in view of his feast day which approaches, I'm asking readers to get in touch with details of the perfumes that have been given to them as a sign and to share their discernment as to how they have interpreted the meaning behind the scent. If you've been given this gift, please feel free to share it with me and my readers. 

You may like a beautiful prayer written by Padre Pio where he asks the Lord, "Stay with me Lord, to show me Your will."