Overview
A pilgrimage to the shrine of Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo on the Gargano Peninsula — venerating his incorrupt body, visiting the old church where he celebrated Mass for fifty years, and climbing to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo.
Reflection
The old church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Padre Pio said Mass every morning for fifty years, is small and plain. You can sit in the same pew where pilgrims sat waiting for hours to go to his confessional. The new church is vast and modern. But it is the old church that stays with you — the smell of incense, the worn kneelers, the sense that something happened here that cannot be fully explained.
Sacred Sites Visited
- Shrine of Padre Pio — old church of Santa Maria delle Grazie
- Tomb and incorrupt body of Padre Pio
- New Church of Padre Pio (Renzo Piano)
- Padre Pio's cell and confessional
- Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza hospital
- Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo — Archangel Michael
- Grotto of the Apparition, Monte Sant'Angelo
- Siponto — ancient basilica ruins
Visio — Photo Gallery
