# Prayer to Saint Pio and the Sacred Heart of Jesus
*2017-09-23*

> Bill Young reflects on the life of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina and shares a special prayer for his intercession and a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

## Greetings from Washington, D.C.

Good afternoon. This is Bill Young and welcome to the Prayer N Lunch podcast. Today is the 23rd of September, the feast day of Saint Pio. I am recording this podcast from Washington, D.C., where I had the exciting opportunity to see Pope Francis in person as he drove by in his popemobile. We took a bus from Miami for 22 hours to get here, and hopefully, we will get to see him again tomorrow.

## The Life of Saint Pio

Saint Pio was born on May 25, 1887, in a small town in Italy. His parents lived in poverty but worked hard to educate their children in the faith from an early age. When he was only five years old, Francis had his first mysterious experience of suffering in ecstasy. Even at that young age, he felt the desire to consecrate himself entirely to God. At 15, he decided to become a friar, and by 1907, he had taken his perpetual vows. He was ordained a priest on August 10, 1910.

Saint Pio also received the stigmata—the wounds of Jesus in his hands, feet, and side. He bore these wounds for about 50 years until his passing, at which point they disappeared. In the beginning, the Catholic Church did not condone or accept them as real, and for a time, he was stopped from giving Communion and hearing confessions. However, the Church eventually realized the truth of the stigmata.

## Prayer to Saint Pio

Today's prayer is a short prayer to Saint Pio: "O Jesus, full of grace and love and a victim for our sins, who, inflamed with love for our souls, wanted to die on the cross, I humbly ask you to glorify also on this earth the servant of God, who by generous partaking of his sufferings, loved you greatly and gave himself without reserve for the glory of your Father through the good of souls. I beg you, therefore, to grant me through his intercession the grace of [insert particular needs]."

This prayer is followed by three Glory Bes: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

## Devotion to the Sacred Heart

One of Saint Pio's favorite prayers was to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

"Jesus, we know you. You are kind that you gave your heart to us. It is crowned with the crown of thorns and with our sins. You know that every day, today, you pray for us so that we not be led into temptation. Stand by us, Jesus, so we will not fall in sin. Through your sacred heart, grant us the grace to love others always. There must be no more hatred among us. Show us your love. We will all love you and want to be with your shepherd, the heart to protect us from sin.

Enter every heart, O Jesus. Knock at the door, closed. Be patient, uttering with us. We have not understood your will, thus remain closed to you, not steadfastly, and grant us the grace to open our hearts to you, at least as we remember the suffering you endured for us. Amen."

*By seeking the intercession of Saint Pio and opening our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we can find the grace to love others and avoid sin.*