Padre Pio: Early Life

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Francesco Forgione (more commonly known as Padre Pio) was born to Grazio Mario Forgione and Maria Giuseppa Di Nunzio on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, a town in southern Italy. His parents made a living as peasant farmers.

His siblings were an older brother, Michele, and three younger sisters, Felicita, Pellegrina (later shortened to as Pia after the death of her brother) and Grazia (who was later to become a Bridgettine nun). His parents had two other children who died in infancy.

When he was baptized, he was given the name Francesco. He stated that by the time he was five years old, he had already made the decision to dedicate his entire life to God. He began taking on penances and was chided on one occasion by his mother for using a stone as a pillow and sleeping on the stone floor. He worked on the land up to the age of 10, looking after the small flock of sheep the family owned.

Pietrelcina was a town where feast days of saints were celebrated throughout the year, and the Forgione family was deeply religious. They attended daily mass and prayed the rosary nightly. Although Francesco's parents and grandparents were illiterate, they memorized the scriptures and narrated Bible stories to their children. His mother said that Francesco was able to see and speak with Jesus, the Virgin and his guardian angel (as a child he assumed that all people could do so).

The young Francesco Forgione was afflicted with a number of illnesses. At six he suffered from a grave gastroenteritis which kept him in considerable pain and bedridden for a long time.

As a youth, Francesco reported that he had experienced heavenly vision and ecstasies.

In 1897, after he had completed three years at the public school, Francesco was said to have been drawn to the life of a friar after listening to a young Capuchin friar who was in the countryside seeking donations. When Francesco expressed his desire to his parents however the friars informed him that he needed to become better educated.

This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.