Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

On June 16, 2002, Pope John Paul II canonized in Rome Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, one of the greatest saints of all times. There are saints who have been known for healing; there are saints who could “read” souls; there are saints who were known for levitation; there were saints who bore the stigmata, or were seen in apparition, or who had the “odor of sanctity.” There are saints who could understand languages they didn’t know. But Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, who died on September 23, 1968, had all these charisms, and more. In fact, not since St. Francis of Assisi has there been such a miracle-worker.

Modesty in dress
Padre Pio requested people to be dressed modestly to enter the Church of St. Mary of All Graces in San Giovanni Rotondo. During the last years of his life, he became even more severe, as fashions became more immodest. He drove away from his confessional, without respite, all the ladies he deemed to be dressed improperly, even before they entered the confessional box. So they had to put up on the door of the church this notice:

“The church is God’s house. It is forbidden for men to enter here with bare arms and wearing shorts. It is forbidden for women to enter wearing trousers, bare headed, with short, low-necked or sleeveless dresses. It is forbidden to borrow dresses in the church to be able to go to confession.”

The last line of the notice was not superfluous. In the church, a few minutes before entering the confessional box, many ladies made a rapid change of clothes — dresses, smocks, rain coats — to make up for what was lacking. As soon as Padre Pio saw them, he muttered: “Go and get dressed, jokers!”