‘He suffered. He did it with love and didn’t complain’

Several hundred people from across the Diocese of Bridgeport gathered at St. Jude Parish in Monroe to venerate the relics of St. Padre Pio. The event took place during the sixth day of a diocesan-wide novena to the Franciscan friar.

Attendees waited in line to venerate five relics, which included a piece of the saint's mantle, a lock of his hair, a handkerchief used during Mass, a crust from his wounds, and his brown fingerless glove. Visitors knelt to pray and touched rosaries or other sacramentals to the relics. Bonnie Thibodeau, leader of the Padre Pio Prayer Group of Fairfield County, noted that people from throughout the diocese arrived to pray for their intentions.

The day included Eucharistic adoration from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the evening, parochial vicar Father Jozef Ukaj concelebrated Mass with Father Richard J. Gemza, pastor of Christ the King Parish.