Thousands venerate relics of St. Padre Pio in Columbus

A steady stream of visitors passed through Columbus St. Mary, Mother of God Church in the German Village area throughout the weekend of Oct. 28-30 to venerate the relics of St. Padre Pio.

Close to 3,000 pilgrims of all ages traveled from as far as Youngstown to see the traveling relics of the 20th century Italian saint, a Franciscan Capuchin friar and mystic who bore the wounds of Christ on the cross (stigmata) and to whom many miracles are attributed to his intercession.

The three-day event included an evening Mass on Friday, Oct. 28 celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes. Weekend Masses also took place at the church led by Father Vince Nguyen, the parish’s pastor.

The relics of the saint, who was canonized in 2002 by Pope St. John Paul II, were displayed for public viewing Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. The relics included a lock of the saint’s hair, crusts of his wounds and gauze from his bloodstains.

Among the Friday crowd were busloads of students from Marion St. Mary School and Newark St. Francis de Sales School.

“At St. Mary School, we found out this was happening, and our principal and our pastor, Father (Thomas) Buffer, worked it out for our middle school students to be here and for them to learn in their classes about St. Padre Pio, and the relics and what those mean, as a beautiful moment of catechesis to show the devotional life of the church and to help our students understand how we venerate the saints,” said Father Seth Keller, parochial vicar at Marion St. Mary Church. 

“And also, that St. Padre Pio is a saint of really modern times. So, it’s a beautiful thing to be able to teach them about the lives of the saints and how we venerate them as Catholics.”

Lori Crock was one of the thousands who came to venerate the relics. The Hilliard St. Brendan parishioner, a fitness coach and Catholic writer who pens a monthly column for The Catholic Times, said her extended family has a special connection to Padre Pio.

When Crock’s husband, Al, was 12, he was hit by a car and immediately went into a coma. Al’s seven aunts told his family to write to different communities of religious sisters throughout the world asking for their prayers and to whom the family should ask for intercession.

Many of the sisters wrote back and said to pray for the intercession of Padre Pio.

“So, they did,” Lori said. “A few months later, Al woke up, came out of the coma and soon recovered. Because of this, it’s a family belief that Padre Pio interceded and brought back Al to a full and productive life. He’s 61 now and has suffered no ill effects from the accident since emerging from the coma.”

Lori also expressed a special devotion to Padre Pio, particularly through the sacrament of reconciliation. Padre Pio reportedly could read souls, and he spent countless hours in the confessional.

Lori and Al’s son, Ben, chose Padre Pio as his confirmation saint. In May, he was married at St. Mary, Mother of God Church.

“So, it’s very special to the Crock family that the exhibit of Padre Pio’s relics is here,” she said.

Kevin Girardi, a diocesan seminarian who is spending a pastoral year at the Knox County Consortium of parishes, was one of the Friday visitors who venerated the relics.

“Padre Pio has been showing up in my life in recent months,” he said, “so my devotion to him has been growing. What a privilege to be able to come into contact with this saint.”

The yearly relics tour to dioceses and parishes in the United States, Canada and Mexico is sponsored by the Saint Pio Foundation.