THE novena Masses leading to the feast of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina have begun last Sept. 14.
The novena Masses will run for nine days every 6 p.m. until Sept. 22 at the St. Pedro Calungsod Shrine at the Archbishop’s Residence on D. Jakosalem Street, Cebu City.
A procession will be held on Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. inside the shrine.
On Sept. 23, the feast day of St. Padre Pio, a pontifical Mass will be held at 6 p.m. at the nearby Sacred Heart Parish Church with Most Rev. Emilio Bataclan as the main celebrant. Veneration and the kissing of the relic will follow after the Pontifical Mass.
Padre Pio is the first stigmatized priest in the history of the church. On September 1918, the five wounds of our Lord’s passion appeared on his body.
Padre Pio’s life was marked by long hours of prayer and continual austerity characterized by over half a century of intense suffering and apostolic activity in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
For more inquiries, please contact the Padre Pio Contemplative Community of Cebu at (0917) 3254669 or (0927) 4642829.