Five relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina expected to bring thousands to Naperville church next week
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An estimated 3,000 people are expected to pass through the doors of Naperville’s Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Tuesday for an encounter with the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
Francesco Forgione, known as Padre Pio or St. Pio, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest and mystic who was beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.
The display of the five pieces in Naperville is the only stop the relics will make in Illinois this year.
Ron Frederick, a church parishioner who is part of the team that organized the stopover, said last time the relics came to town, the line wrapped around the church and 4,000 people graced the church sanctuary on a Friday in October 2018.
Because this year’s date falls on a Tuesday, the church at 36 N. Ellsworth St. is expecting smaller attendance numbers, Frederick said.
Padre Pio was the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Catholic Church for his wounds resembling those suffered by Jesus on his hands, feet and side during his crucifixion.
Among the items available for public veneration are the crusts of his wounds, cotton gauze bearing his blood stains, a lock of his hair, his handkerchief soaked with his sweat only hours before he died and a piece of Saint Pio’s mantle/garment.
The relics will be displayed following an opening Mass at 8 a.m. The line will be cut off at 5:30 p.m. to allow those already queued up to see the relics before the 7 p.m. closing Mass.
Parishioners appreciate when Sts. Peter and Paul Church — founded in 1846 and the oldest established parish in DuPage County — brings in relics, icons or statues, according to Frederick.
“It’s a chance to refresh our faith,” he said.
Touching or praying in the presence of such an object helps the faithful focus on the saint’s life and virtues so that through the saint’s prayer or intercession before God, the person can draw closer to God, he said.
Besides the Padre Pio relics, over the years the church has hosted a replica of the Black Madonna of Czestocho and the Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Most people aren’t able to travel to San Giovanni Rotondo or Pietrelcina to visit the places where Saint Pio was born, lived and died.
Frederick said the opportunity at Sts. Peter and Paul allows the faithful to bring religious items, such as rosaries, that can be carefully touched to the relics.
The relics will be displayed on a table in the center aisle near the altar.
While no kneelers will be placed near the relics to keep the line moving, parishioners and visitors are encouraged to sit in the pews for silent prayer and devotion as long as they want, Frederick said.
Every hour Frederick will share a bit about the saint’s life, including his childhood, when he entered the priesthood, his miracles and his spiritual gifts.
The church also will offer recitation of the rosary.
Free parking is available in all church lots and on neighborhood streets. A handicap entrance and exit is located on the north side of the church.
Donations can be given to the New York-based St. Pio Foundation, which sponsors relics tours in archdioceses and parishes across North America.
Money raised by the foundation funds grants to American Catholic health care and educational, social, religious and cultural partner organizations.
Religious items such as rosaries and books about St. Pio will be available for purchase from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. near the start of the line in the church.
More information on the life of Padre Pio is available on the church website at sspeterandpaul.net/events/padrepio.
