Padre Pio: Episode Two

[MUSIC PLAYING] Italy, 1903. Brother Pio returns to Pietrelcina facing physical affliction and spiritual trials. His ill health is an obstacle to his vocation. With challenges at every turn, will his faith endure the trials that lie ahead? The Saints, Adventures of Faith and Courage. Padre Pio, episode two, A Worth While Suffering. Listen to all the episodes and discover new shows at thesaintspodcast.com. Sponsored by Colby Academy, Colby's expert advisors and teachers are with you every step of the way to give your children a truly personalized Catholic home education. Learn more at thesaintspodcast.com/colby. Brother Pio, how have you been? Much better, Padre Agostino. The moment I arrived back in Pietrelcina, I started to mend. Interesting. Thanks for visiting so often. Sorry, my health has been such a bother. You are my spiritual son, brother Pio. It is my duty to the Capucin order and to God. Thank you, Padre. You've been in my prayers. Dr. Romanelli said that you were on the verge of death. If the Lord wants to call me home, I'll be ready. I'll offer the mass for you today, Pio. I just hope he'll wait until I turn 24, so I can be ordained a priest before I go. I have news about that. How so? I wrote the Bishop of Benevento about your situation. Padre, the bishop must have better things to worry about than a poor monk. He issued a dispensation from the age requirement for ordination. He will ordain you as soon as your health allows. Padre, that's wonderful. I thought you'd be happy. Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you. You'll minister in Pietralcina with Padre Salvatore, at least until you're better and can return to the monastery. Thank you, Padre Agostino. You make a fine priest. It's the gaunt look that does it, right? Just one thing. What is it, Padre? Out of prudence. In case you are suffering from tuberculosis, the bishop asked that you refrain from hearing confessions. Oh, I understand, Padre. Archduke Franz Ferdinand has been assassinated in Sarajevo. Italy has joined the Triple Entente. Conscripts will be drafted quickly to defend the Republic. I have been drafted as a soldier. I have to be in Naples in a week! Francesco Porgione. Yes, sir. Your medical report is abysmal, soldier. It says you're anemic and severely underweight. Perhaps the chains of scenery might help, Captain. The dottore wrote a note here. I'm surprised this man is even alive. Unfit for service. I'll serve however I can, Captain. I'm not discharging you just yet. I'm giving you a leave of absence. Go back to Petrocina and come back after six months. We've got something to do out there. Yes, Captain. I'm a Catholic priest. Well, I'll be blessed a Padre in the barracks. What are they feeding you out there in Petrocina? Nothing? Not much, Captain. But I was hoping for an authentic ragù a la Napoletana, here in Napoli. You do that before you head home. And come back healthier next time I see you, alright? Excuse us. Is this seat taken? No, a seat if you like. Grazie, signore. Are you going far? Not too far, just to Benevento. From there, home to Petrocina. And yourself? I'm off to Zurich. Long road ahead of me. Switzerland? What business takes you there during such troubled times? I represent some investors here in Italy. And there are some business opportunities they've commissioned me to go explore. Opportunities? During a war? Well, yes. Money has a way of making its way to neutral territory during conflicts. An interesting observation. Are you a banker? A journalist by trade, actually. I just happen to know the right people for this opportunity. I wish you well. What's your name, son? Emanuele Brunato. Yours? Padre Pio. Padre, you're a priest. That's right. Oh. This work in Switzerland, will it be of service to God? I believe so. Good. Keep your hands clean, Emanuele, as you chase those opportunities. Padre Pio, you're back. I thought you'd be fighting the war by now. They gave me six months off. Health's not up to it. Wonderful. You can celebrate mass today, then. Happy to. Any words from the bishop in Benevento? About the permission to hear confessions? Yes. That. The Archdiocese sent a note. They're still worried you might be contagious. With the war, people need confessions more than ever. You'll be overwhelmed, Padre Salvatore. If it were up to me, you'd be in confessional day, Padre Pio. If it were tuberculosis, you'd be long dead by now. But we obey. Yes, we do. Obedience is the antidote to pride, Padre. As we face the storm of war, with husbands and sons sent away, it's easy to despair, just as it was when our Lord was tortured and killed. These are the moments we can climb up on the cross beside Jesus. Pain comes, whether we want it or not. What's in our control is whether or not we put our hearts on the cross with His. Please rise. Padre Pio, what's going on? Help me, Padre. Everything hurts. I'll call the dottori. No, stay with me. Please. Here, let me help you to this chair. Pio, your robes are wet. Are you bleeding? What happened? Stay with me, Padre. Jesus, help me. We need to get you to a dottori, Pio. Wait, Padre. Just a moment. Hold my hands. Please, pray with me. Pio, your hands, they pierced. Did you cut yourself? No, no, Padre. The wounds? Your blood, Pio, it smells sweet, like flowers. You have the wounds of Christ. Padre Salvatore, pray to Jesus to remove the visible signs. Not the pain, so I can suffer with Him in secret. Pio, this is incredible. You can't hide this. Please, Padre, pray with me. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Padre Agostino, welcome back. Francesco is just resting in here. Come in. Grazie, Signora, for joy. Padre Agostino, it's good to see you. Por favore, have a seat. I'll put down a pot of coffee. How is your health, Padre Pio? Our Lord continues to bless me. You've been outside the monastery for over a year now. I've prayed for your recovery often. Jesus hears all your prayers. Even the last time when you were here, when you forgot to offer up Mass for me, as you said you would. How did you know I forgot to do that? The Lord accepted the intention you made. It's alright. Will you tell me about the episode in the Sacresty? Padre Salvatore said it was important I asked. It was nothing. Pio, I am your superior. Be sincere. On my trip to Naples, I saw so many worried faces, so many tears, husbands departing from wives, mothers and fathers not knowing whether their sons would return. I spent that trip asking Jesus to show me how to relieve all their suffering, and I can't even hear confessions. It's challenging, I know, but what happened in the Sacresty? After Mass, our Lord came to me and, well, He gave me His wounds. Padre Salvatore said he saw your hands pierced and bleeding. He said your blood had a sweet fragrance. We prayed that the Lord take away the visible signs. I want to suffer with Him in secret, Padre. Are you in pain now? Yes. Do you feel the nails in your hands? I do. Oh, my son, it's alright, Padre. How can you bear it? Your side too? Yes. Though what it hurts the most is here, on my shoulder, the weight of the cross. It was crushing to Him. Pio, it's not good that you should bear this alone. A Capuchin needs to be with his brothers. I'll go where you send me, Padre Agostino. But I think the Lord still wants me in Pietrelcina. When we sent you home, it seemed that you were on the verge of death, but clearly you're not dead. That's what Padre Salvatore said. It's time to come back to the monastery. I think the Lord still wants me in Pietrelcina. Perhaps the path is secularization, to become a diocesan priest and continue to serve here with Padre Salvatore. No, Padre, I'm a Capuchin. You're not leaving the vocation. If you are a Capuchin, you'll have to leave as a Capuchin. Pio. Listen to all the episodes and discover new shows at thesaintspodcast.com.