The habit of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina will visit the United States for the first time
The relic will be on display from October 11 to 14 at the Padre Pío National Center, located in Barto, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Allentown.
The religious clothing will be worn by a group of Italian Capuchin friars from the Convent of Our Lady of Graces in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy. According to Vera Marie Calandra, vice president of the Padre Pío National Center, this visit "is an extraordinary opportunity to share a unique and intimate relic of Padre Pío with his devotees."
Program composed of masses and processions
The celebrations will begin on Saturday, October 11 with a Holy Mass presided over by the Capuchin Friars of San Giovanni Rotondo, followed by a procession in honor of Padre Pío. The next day, Sunday, October 12, there will also be a Eucharistic celebration and a procession.
The Bishop Emeritus of Harrisburg, Ronald Gainer, has been elected to preside over a Holy Mass in English on October 13. Immediately after, the friars will celebrate a mass in Italian. Finally, on the 14th, Bishop Alfred Schlert of Allentown will celebrate a mass, followed by a Eucharistic celebration in Italian by the friars.
The relic will also visit the Padre Pío de América Foundation
In addition to the visit to the national center, the Italian friars will also take the habit of the saint to the Padre Pio of America Foundation in Cromwell, Connecticut. The relic will be available for the veneration of devotees at St. Pius X Church in Middletown, Connecticut, from October 15 to 18.