St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Feast Day: September 23
Born in an Italian farming village, Francesco Forgione gained worldwide fame as Capuchin friar Padre Pio, who bore the stigmata,
or wounds of Christ, invisibly from the time of his ordination in 1910 and visibly from 1918.
As his renown as a confessor grew, the Vatican investigated the genuineness of his stigmata and ministry of prayer and healing.
At San Giovanni Rotondo, he built a hospital to treat patients using prayer and science, as well as a pilgrimage and study complex.
Shortly before his death, the stigmata disappeared. He was canonized in 2002.
