You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouts. Today is Friday, June 3, 2022. Today is also the feast day of many Ugandan martyrs, including St. Charles Luonga and St. Joseph Muscala. Now, all week we have been hearing from Kelly from Redbird ministry talking to us about

saints that experienced grief and drawing lessons that we can apply to our own situations

as we deal with the loss of loved ones.

So we have one more story from a saint today.

Today's saint is Saint Padre Pio. Padre Pio, Francesco Forgione, was born to Guseppa

and Grazio Forgione in a small town of Petrolencia, Italy on May 25, 1887. Although the Forgione's were poor in material goods,

they were certainly rich in their faith life and in the love of God. Even as a young boy,

Francesco had already shown signs of extraordinary gifts of grace. At the age of five, he dedicated

his life to God.

From his early childhood, he showed a remarkable recollection of spirit and love for the religious life.

His mother described him as a quiet child, who from his earliest years loved to go to church and to pray.

When Francisco was 15 years old, he was admitted to the novitiate of the capuchin order of the friars minor in Marconi, Italy. He was admired by his fellow students as well

as by his superiors for his exemplary behavior and his deep spirituality. One of the novices stated, there was something which distinguished him

from the other students. Whenever I saw him, he was always humble, recollected, and silent.

What struck me most about Brother Pio was his love of prayer. And on August 10th, 1910 at the age of 23, Padre Pio was ordained to the

priesthood. His parishioners were deeply impressed by his piety, and one by one they began to come to him

seeking counsel. For many, even a few moments in his presence, proved to be a life-changing experience.

As the years past, pilgrims began to come to him by the thousands, from every corner of the

world, drawn by the spiritual riches which flowed so freely from his extraordinary ministry.

To his spiritual children, he would say, it seems to me as if Jesus has no

other concern but the sanctification of your soul. Padre Pio is understood above all else as a man of

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