Today is the feast day of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

September 23 marks the feast day of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, a Capuchin priest born Francesco Forgione. Born on May 25, 1887, to Grazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa de Nunzio in Pietrelcina, Italy, he was the fourth of 8 children.

Forgione entered the Capuchin Order on January 6, 1903, at age 16. He was ordained a priest at the Benevento Cathedral on August 10, 1910. Due to poor health, he lived in various monasteries in southern Italy before being sent to the San Giovanni Rotondo monastery on September 4, 1916.

The Diocese of Kontum reports that Forgione experienced mystical experiences as early as age 5, according to the diary of his spiritual director, Father Augustinô of Saint-Marc-en-Lamis. Exaudi notes that his life was marked by various spiritual gifts, including stigmata, bilocation, prophecy, and healing.