Christian

Padre Pio's celestial perfumes

Padre Pio's celestial perfumes

Some Saints possessed the gift that is known
as “odor of sanctity”. The phenomenon is called
osmogenesia. This gift allows somebody to
perceive the Saint’s presence in the smell of
personal perfumes. St.Pio has the gift of holy
perfumes called odors of holiness, therefore; the
people who were next to him, could very often
smell his perfumes. The perfume often emanated
from his body or from the objects that he touched
or from his clothing. Sometimes the perfume was
perceivable in the places through which he passed.

One day, a famous Doctor had removed a bandage
from a sore on padre Pio’s chest. The gauze was
saturated with the blood and the doctor had
enclosed it in a container in order to bring the
gauze to his laboratory. During the trip to Rome
to analyze the gauze, an Officer and other people
that were traveling with the doctor said “they
smelled the perfume that usually emanated from
padre Pio”. Not one of those persons knew that
the doctor had the gauze soaked with the blood of
St. Padre Pio in the container. The doctor saved
that gauze in his laboratory, and the strange
perfume had stayed in the room for long time, so
that when the patients went to him for the
medical visits, they asked him for an explanation.

Friar Modestino said: “Once I was on vacation at
St. Giovanni Rotondo. I went to Padre Pio in the
sacristy that morning to serve the Holy Mass, but
other monks were already arguing in the sacristy
as to who would have this privilege. Padre Pio
interrupted those discussions by saying – ‘only
he will serve the Holy Mass’ - and he pointed me
out! I accompanied Padre Pio to St. Francis
altar, I closed the gate, and I started to serve
the Holy Mass in profound awe. When the Mass got
to the point of the “Sanctus” I suddenly had a
desire to smell again that indescribable perfume
that I had already perceived when I had kissed
Padre Pio’s hand. The desire was immediately
granted me and it was like I was wooed by St.
Pio’s perfume. The perfume increased more and
more, so much so that the perfume caused me to
breathe irregularly. I leaned my hand on the
communion rail so as not to fall! I was about to
faint when I mentally asked Padre Pio to save me
from embarrassment in front of the people. In
that precise instant the perfume disappeared. In
the evening, while I accompanied him to his room,
I asked Padre Pio for an explanation about that
phenomenon. He answered me: “My child, I am not
able to explain it. “God intervenes to allow
somebody to smell the perfume whenever He wants.”

From my small window (I was on one side of the
confessional) I saw that Padre Pio was hearing
the confession of a lady on the other
side. While I thought that I was going
tofiore.gif (2499 byte) speak to the saint, I was
wooed by a strong perfume of lilies. Yet, this
really got me confused, because I had never
believed the stories of the perfumes, and so I
myself was convinced that padre Pio’s perfumes really existed.

A lady from Bologna, who was 24 years old, had
her right arm fractured. The same arm had been
operated three years prior because of a serious
accident. After an operation followed by a long
painful recovery the surgeon told the girl’s
father that she would not have use of the arm
anymore. In fact the arm was completely immobile,
because of the removal of a section of the
shoulder blade. A bone graft had not
succeeded! Father and injured daughter departed
for St. Giovanni Rotondo. Padre Pio met them, he
blessed them and he declared: “Above all do not
despair! Confide in God! The arm will recover.”
Toward the end of July, 1930 the woman returned
to Bologna without any improvement of her arm.
Was it possible to think that Padre Pio had been
wrong? For months nobody thought anymore of the
problem. On the 17th.of September (the
celebration of the stigmata of St. Francis),
suddenly, the apartment where the family lived
became scented by a delicious odor of jonquils
and roses. The scented phenomenon lasted about a
quarter of an hour while everybody tried to
understand where that perfume originated. From
that day the girl started to use her arm again.
An X-Ray which she preserved jealously, showed
that the bone and the cartilage were completely fused and healed.

A man said: “One day I decided to follow my
wife’s suggestion to go see Padre Pio. It had
been twenty-five years precisely from the day of
my marriage since I had seen the inside of a
church. I felt my years of guilt weighing me down
and I needed to confess my sins, but as soon as I
was next to Padre Pio, he said brusquely (without
looking at me): “Go away!” I answered: “I am
here to confess, that you may give me Jesus’
absolution.” I had spoken roughly to him, but he
roughly responded: “I have said: “Go away.” I
went away running across the garden from the
small Church then onto the hotel. My wife, who
had seen me go out of the Church, reached me at
the hotel. “What has happened? What are you
doing?” she questioned me. “I am packing my
suitcase and I am leaving,” I answered. At that
moment a cloud of perfume wooed me. It was an
intense perfume, marvellous to the senses. I was
confused. It soothed me instantly and I felt
inside me a great desire to return to Padre Pio.
It took me a day to muster enough courage to
return to the Padre. I prepared myself,
carefully I examined my conscience before meeting
the Padre who kindly welcomed me and gave me absolution I needed.”

A lady said: “My husband was in an automobile
accident and was critically injured. He was
transported to the hospital in Taranto, Italy.
The doctors had no hope of his survival. On the
hospital grounds there was a shrine dedicated to
Padre Pio. Before visiting my husband I would
stop and pray to Padre Pio for my husband’s
recovery. One day, as I stood there praying, the
“Saintly” Pio smells, a marvellous perfume of
lilies engulfed me. I took it as a sign that my
prayer request had been heard. From that moment
on, the condition of my husband improved and he
healed from the injuries he sustained.”

A gentleman from Toronto said: “In 1947, my wife
that fell seriously ill and was hospitalised in
Rome, requiring surgery. I travelled to St.
Giovanni, Rotondo to see Padre Pio. While I was
there, the good Padre heard my confession. After
receiving the absolution, I talked to the Padre
about my wife’s condition. Then I asked him:
“Father, help me to pray!” Immediately I smelled
a delicious and persistent perfume that surprised
me. I returned home in the late evening. As soon
as I opened the door, I smelled again that same
scent that I had smelled when I was next to
Father Pio. I became confident. My wife underwent
the operation without any problems. I told her
the marvellous experience that I had and together we thanked Padre Pio.”

A married couple in England were experiencing
problems and were at a point of despair. They did
not know where to turn to. Someone spoke to them
about Padre Pio. They wrote to Padre Pio about
their problems but did not receive any
answer. They, then decided to go to St. Giovanni
Rotondo to meet the Padre and obtain his wise
counsel. From England to Puglia (Italy), the
journey was long! Moreover, it was in the middle
of winter with snowy conditions
prevailing. Despite the weather, they embarked
on their journey. They spent their first night in
Bern in a lowly hotel for that was all they could
afford. Doubts filled them once more. They
wondered what they would do if the Padre did not
receive them. Should they continue with their
journey or turn back. As they were debating on
their options, the room was filled with a sweet,
intoxicating perfume, that had a very relaxing
effect on them. The woman began to look for the
source of the perfume and thought that some
distracted traveller, before them had left a
bottle of perfume in the room. The search for the
perfume’s source was fruitless! Awhile later the
perfume smell faded away and the room emanated
the usual odor of a stench. The married couple
shared their experience with the innkeeper. He
was surprised as it was the first time that any
of his clients believed to have smelled perfume
in their room. The couple instead took it as a
sign to continue with their journey to St.
Giovanni Rotondo and to meet Padre Pio. When they
got there, the young man, who was well versed in
Italian, spoke to the Padre in Italian: “We
wrote to you, Father, but since you have not
answered us…” “What?” Padre Pio interrupted
saying: “ Why do you tell me I did not answer
you? Did you not smell anything that evening in
the Swiss hotel?” The two lovers were joyful and
full of thankfulness. They understood then, the
perfume that they had smelled in the room of the
hotel, was the perfume of Padre Pio. With just a
few words of counselling, Padre Pio helped them to resolve their problems.”

A gentleman met Father Pio through a series of
strange coincidences. He says: “The first time I
heard somebody speak of this extraordinary
religious man was after the war. A friend of mine
knew the Padre well. He spoke enthusiastically of
him. But I thought to myself his stories about
the holy man were a bit much. So I must confess
my initial reactions were indifference and
disbelief. This was especially true when my
friend told me about various phenomena attributed
to Padre Pio, especially the scent of perfumes.
“Many people claim to detect an aroma of perfume
even when they are not any where near the sainted
Friar. You can imagine my surprise when this
started to happen to me. I would catch the aroma
of violets in unusual places, where even the hint
of a flower could not be found. I began to wonder
about myself. I started to doubt my senses. I
even told myself I must be dreaming. “One day the
phenomenon happened when I was on vacation with
my wife. I had gone to the post office to mail a
letter. The post office in question did not
normally lace its air with perfume. I don’t know
of any that do. But all of a sudden I smelled the
unmistakable odor of violets. Catching the scent,
my wife said to me ‘ Where is this odor of
perfume coming from?’ Excitedly, I asked her ‘Can
you smell it too?’ “Then I told my wife about
Padre Pio and about the stories of unusual
perfumed aromas surrounding his presence. These
aromas could be detected even if one were at a
distance from the good Padre. My wife was moved.
She said to me: ‘If I were you, I would leave for
San Giovanni Rotondo right away.’ The next day,
we were on our way. We met with Padre Pio and he
said to me ‘Ah, here is our hero. How much effort
I expended to get you here.’ That same day, I had
a chance to speak with Padre Pio personally. From
that moment on, my life was changed.”

Another person once remarked : “Some years ago, I
had a heart attack. The doctors recommended I
undergo surgery to improve my condition.
I entered the hospital at once. It was in June
1991. During the surgery, the doctors did a
quadruple bypass. When I awoke from the
anesthesia, my leg and right arm were paralyzed .
I was really discouraged. After awhile, my faith
returned and I began to pray to Padre Pio for
help. I pleaded with him for three days. On the
third day, as I was finishing my prayer, despite
being surrounded by other patients, I noticed
something significant. I caught a whiff of an
overwhelming aroma of flowers. When the perfumed
aroma faded, I felt a sensation in my right leg.
I knew at once my prayers had been answered.”

A woman tells this story: “I had great problems
with both of my eyes. I experienced pain and
could see very little. I consulted several
doctors and after several examinations, they gave
me the diagnosis: irreversible ocular hemorrhage.
They added there was a probably a tumor present
also. To make matters worse, the doctors told
me this form of blindness was final. There was
no cure. “Upon hearing this bad news, I became
very depressed and anxious. I was on a trip and I
knew I would be passing close to Benevento. So I
decided to go as far as Pietreicina, where I
would have an opportunity to visit Padre Pio’s
monastery. During my visit to one of the last
rooms where St. Pio had lived, I was deeply
moved. I had been praying for my relatives and
all of a sudden, caught the scent of an intense
burst of incense. “While I was returning to Rome
by train, I thought a lot about what had happened
in that room in Padre Pio’s monastery I decided
to plead with Padre Pio to heal my damaged eyes.
I turned to him with as much faith as I could
muster. Padre Pio didn’t take long to hear my
prayers. In fact, my sight progressively improved
and before too long, I was totally healed. The
doctors who examined me later could not believe I
was completely and inexplicably recovered.”

A man from Canicatti (Sicily, Italy) tells this
story “At the start of 1953, my wife was
pregnant. The problem was she also had a serious
kidney problem. The doctors told her that because
of this kidney problem, ‘the child’s life was in
danger.’ Any surgery performed to correct this
problem had to succeed, or else. On May 3rd, I
was desperate. I wrote a letter to Padre Pio
asking for his help. A few days later, my wife
and I were in different rooms, yet at the same
time, we both smelled a mysterious aroma of
roses. At that precise moment, the mail carrier
knocked on our door and delivered a letter to us
from the monastery of St. Giovanni Rotondo. We
read that Padre Pio would pray for my wife and
our unborn child. The next day, my wife underwent
another medical exam and we were told by the
examining physician the kidney ailment had disappeared.”

A lawyer who was very devoted to Father Pio
says: “Once I was in the old church in the
monastery attending one of Padre Pio’s long
Masses. At the moment of the consecration of the
Sacred Host, I became distracted. I was the only
person standing in the middle of the crowd of
believers who were all kneeling. Suddenly, I was
overwhelmed by a powerful aroma of violets. The
scent was so strong it jolted me back to the
present moment. Looking around me, I knelt down
without thinking anything about the unusual
perfume that hovered above me. As was my custom,
after the Mass was over, I went to greet Padre
Pio. He welcomed me saying ‘Were you a little
disoriented today?’ I sheepishly said ‘Yes,
Padre. I have been a bit absent-minded today, but
fortunately, your perfume woke me up.’ He said
simply.: ‘For you, perfume is not necessary. For you, slaps are necessary.’”

Monk Ludovico of St. Giovanni Rotondo said that
"Padre Pio left a wake of perfume, when he passed
for the several places of the convent.

Father Fred said: "Sometimes, if you wanted to
know where Padre Pio was, it was enough to follow the wake of the perfume.

Mr. Peter says: "One day I was travelling by car
and I was running very fast. Suddenly I felt a
wave of perfume. I remembered one day I had asked
the meaning of that phenomenon to the Saint and
Padre Pio told me: "My child, when you feel the
perfume, be careful". In that instant I stop
running but I could not avoid to have a crash
with the car. However I didn't have any damages to myself.