"THE AUTHOR DOES NOT SPARE US LOVERS OF THE FRANCISCAN FAMILY THE EMBARRASSING TRUTH..."

My dear friend, James Ignatius, has left this supremely kind and thoughtful review. James is never outdone in generosity: 

"This is a standout spiritual biography of a great saint of the 20th century, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, better known as “Padre Pio.” This book combines classic hagiography with modern historiography. The narrative of the book consists of charming anecdotes in the chronological order of Padre Pio’s life. The result is a book that is a joy to read.

This work avoids the bland chronological narrative approach found in other biographies of Padre Pio and instead gives a spiritual narrative of his life in a joyful, almost conversational style. The author brings us through Padre Pio’s spiritual development and utilizes both primary and secondary sources. The course of the book addresses the seven deadly sins, and the seven cardinal virtues.

Padre Pio was a Capuchin Franciscan whose saintly life exposed both the good, the bad and the ugly of the Church before the Second Vatican Council. As for the ugly, in Chapter 33 we meet Father Giustino Gaballo, OFM Cap, who comes across as a creep with an unhealthy obsession with sexual sin. This man's actions demonstrate that he had determined Padre Pio guilty of sexual sin. Father Gaballo took an ends justifies the means approach in order to prove this allegation. Not only did Father Gaballo bug Pio’s cell, there are allegations that Father Gaballo went so far as to spy on Padre Pio in the confessional, which is outrageous, as well as a canonical crime!!!

When we read of such priests, it should remind us of the critical importance of praying for priests.

Concerning the bad, the author does not spare us lovers of the Franciscan family the embarrassing truth about Father Agostino Gemelli, OFM. Father Gemelli was a man blessed with great intellect, but his actions in regards to Padre Pio do not reveal a man who was on fire with the love of Christ crucifed as St. Francis was. Had Gemelli had the love of Christ, he (Gemelli) thought he had, he would not have lied about Pio, as discussed in Chapter 15. Gemelli is a character that should impel us to an examination of conscience -- have we spoken the truth about our neighbor, have we gossiped?

The account of Gemelli also reveals something good about the Catholic faith – we have many facets of the Catholic faith, among others are intellectual Catholicism, biblical Catholicism, patristic Catholicism, liturgical Catholicism, and devotional Catholicism. Pio was known to say the Franciscan Crown Rosary, something that has gone out of fashion for Gemelli’s OFMs today (when was the last time you saw an OFM with a Crown Rosary?). Devotional Catholicism is a Catholicism of love for Jesus, Mary, and our family of saints. One member of our family of saints that Pio had a special love for was St. Philomena, as discussed in the Epilogue. It has been both my experience as well as my critical observation during my 57 years as a Catholic that intellectual and liturgical Catholics too often fall into the devil’s trap and frown on devotion to Philomena. Pio would have none of that nonsense, for like St. John Vianny, Bl. Pauline Jaricot, and others, Pio had recourse to Philomena. In fact, the testimony of Pio (a modern saint) on Philomena’s behalf is more proof that the order of February 14, 1961, ordering Philomena’s removal from all Calendar was the epitome of pre-Vatican II liturgical stupidity.

There is only one (1) thing that I could criticize about the book: the lack of an index on spiritual topics.

In conclusion, four (4) things that set this book apart from others books about Pio is the author’s:
(1) shared Catholic faith with her Pio,
(2) her love of the traditional Roman mass that Pio, as a priest, said during his life,
(3) that fact that Pio is her spiritual father and
(4) that she was blessed to have a vision of Pio.

Full disclosure – I am named on Page 366 of the book. I did not see a draft of the book, other than a few sections posted on the author’s wonderful website. My contribution was constructive criticism and suggestions. I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in return for writing this review. Again, I will say, this is an excellent book and it will help you in your spiritual growth."

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The picture accompanying this post of Father Agostino Gemelli is in the public domain. This is the first review of Padre Pio and You. Please, of your heroic charity, consider leaving a review, that is if you feel called.