[Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Italy (Padre Pio) was a Franciscan priest and mystic who bore the stigmata. He died September 23, 1968. Pope Saint John Paul II canonized him in 2002. In this Spirit and Truth column, Padre Pio speaks of regret and trusting our ever-faithful God.]
“O JESUS, how many generous souls . . . have kept you company in the garden, sharing your bitterness and your mortal anguish. . . . How many hearts in the course of the centuries have responded generously to your invitation. . . . May this multitude of souls, then, in this supreme hour, be a comfort to you O Lord, who, better than the disciples, share with you the distress of your heart, and cooperate with you for their own salvation and that of others. And grant that I also may be of their number, that I also may offer you some relief.
‘MY ONLY regret is that I have no adequate means with which to thank the Blessed Virgin Mary, through whose intercession I have undoubtedly received so much strength from the Lord, to bear with sincere resignation the many humiliations to which I am subjected day after day. . . And I do not believe this strength comes to me from this world.
“JESUS WANTS to make us holy at all costs. . . He offers you continual proof of this. We must hide our tears from the one who sends them, from the one who has shed tears himself and continues to shed them every day because of man’s ingratitude.
“CONTRARY TO our every merit, we are on the steps of Mount Tabor, by having a firm determination to love and serve His divine goodness well. Therefore we must have great hope. . . Let us, step by step, draw away from earthly affections; let us strip ourselves of the old person and put on the new person, aspiring to the happiness that awaits us. I know that your spirit is always wrapped in the darkness of trials, but it is enough for you to know that Jesus is with you and in you.
“LET US always strive more and more to love the Lord. This great truth of loving God must not seem hard to us; on the contrary, we must consider ourselves honored, because the Lord God didn’t limit himself to creating us and telling us to love him, but he made a commandment of it . . . He commands us to do so, and the commandment is full of love. It is he who instills it into our hearts. It is he who gives us the means to be able to love him. But that which is more surprising, he has also promised us the prize. It isn’t something that is temporary, passing, or limited. It is as eternal as he is eternal; it is as immense as he is immense; it is as lasting as he is lasting. And God lasts forever, for all eternity.
“NEVER FALL back on yourself alone, but place all your trust in God and don’t be too eager to be set free from your present state. Let the Holy Spirit act within you. Give yourself up to all his promptings and have no fear. He is so wise and gentle and discreet that he never brings about anything but good. How good this Holy Spirit, this Comforter, is to all, but how supremely good he is to those who seek him.
“ISN’T OUR good God far above anything we can conceive? Isn’t he more interested than we are in our salvation? How many times has he not given us proof of this? How many victories have you not gained over your very powerful enemies and over yourself, through the divine assistance without which you would inevitably have been crushed?. . . If it was left to ourselves, my dear, to remain on our feet, we should never be able to do it. The Lord is a Father, the most tender and best of fathers. He cannot fail to be moved when His children appeal to him.”
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