Padre Pio's Secret to Holiness

Summary

Father Mike Schmitz discusses the lives of saints like Padre Pio and St. John Vianney, emphasizing that their holiness stemmed not from miraculous events but from humility and obedience. He encourages viewers to embrace these virtues, as they are accessible to everyone and key to living a saintly life by doing God's will in every moment.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Padre Pio and St. John Vianney are celebrated for their remarkable lives.
• 😇 Padre Pio is known for miraculous events, including bilocation and healing prayers.
• 🙏 Padre Pio's life was also marked by mystical experiences and stigmata.
• 🤔 Some may feel that such miracles are unattainable and not applicable to their own lives.
• 👍 Padre Pio's greatness was not due to the miracles but his obedience and humility.
• 🙏 Padre Pio demonstrated humility and obedience even when asked to stop public Mass and preaching.
• 🌱 Humility is about acknowledging one's gifts and weaknesses truthfully, recognizing their source.
• 🔑 Obedience means recognizing and serving those who have authority over us.
• 💡 All individuals can practice humility and obedience, regardless of their life circumstances.
• 👼 Living a holy life, or being a saint, is about doing God's will at every moment.

Q & A

Who is Father Mike Schmitz?

Father Mike Schmitz is a Catholic priest and the speaker in the provided transcript.

What is Ascension Presents?

Ascension Presents appears to be the production company or platform responsible for the video featuring Father Mike Schmitz.

What saints are mentioned in the transcript?

The saints mentioned in the transcript include St. Thérèse, Padre Pio, Saint John Vianney, and angels.

What is significant about Padre Pio's life?

Padre Pio's life was marked by miraculous events, bilocation, healings, and mystical experiences with Jesus Christ, including the stigmata.

What is the current name used for Padre Pio?

Padre Pio is now referred to as St. Pius of Pietrelcina.

How did Padre Pio demonstrate his humility and obedience?

Padre Pio demonstrated humility and obedience by following his superiors' instructions to stop saying Mass in public or preaching, despite the miraculous events happening to him.

What is the main message Father Mike Schmitz conveys about sainthood?

Father Mike Schmitz emphasizes that sainthood is not about performing miracles but about living a life of obedience and humility, doing the will of God at every moment.

What does Father Mike Schmitz suggest is the secret to Padre Pio's holiness?

The secret to Padre Pio's holiness, according to Father Mike Schmitz, is his obedience and humility.

How can ordinary people practice humility?

Humility can be practiced by acknowledging one's gifts and weaknesses truthfully, recognizing that gifts come from God and weaknesses need to be handed over to God.

What is the role of obedience in becoming a saint according to the transcript?

Obedience is crucial in becoming a saint as it involves recognizing and serving those who have authority over us and following their guidance.

What does Father Mike Schmitz believe is possible for everyone to achieve?

According to Father Mike Schmitz, everyone can live like a saint by doing the will of God at every moment, regardless of their state in life.

Outlines

00:00

🙏 Reflections on Saints and Holiness

Father Mike Schmitz discusses the celebration of saints' days in Minnesota and reflects on the lives of St. Thérèse, Padre Pio, and St. John Vianney. He highlights the miraculous aspects of Padre Pio's life, such as bilocation and healings, but emphasizes that Padre Pio's true holiness was rooted in obedience and humility. Father Mike encourages the audience to recognize that while they may not experience such miracles, they can all embody humility and obedience, which are virtues accessible to everyone and are the keys to living a saintly life.

Keywords

💡Padre Pio

Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, was a Roman Catholic priest who is venerated in the Church for the mystical phenomena associated with him, such as the stigmata and bilocation. In the script, Padre Pio is used as an example of a saint whose life was marked by miraculous events. His ability to heal people and his mystical experiences with Jesus Christ are highlighted to illustrate the extraordinary nature of his sanctity.

💡Stigmata

The stigmata refers to the appearance of wounds corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ on the body of a Christian mystic. In the context of the video, Padre Pio bore the spiritual and physical stigmata, which is a central part of his miraculous and holy life. This concept is used to emphasize the depth of his spiritual connection with Christ.

💡Humility

Humility is the quality of being modest and not thinking too highly of oneself. In the video, humility is presented as a key virtue of Padre Pio, demonstrated by his willingness to obey his superiors even when he was experiencing miraculous phenomena. It is suggested that humility is a virtue that all can practice, regardless of their spiritual gifts or callings.

💡Obedience

Obedience is the action of complying with an order, request, or command. In the script, Padre Pio's obedience is highlighted when he followed the instructions of his superiors to stop saying Mass in public or preaching, despite the miraculous events happening to him. This obedience is presented as a fundamental aspect of his holiness and a virtue that everyone can embody.

💡Sanctity

Sanctity refers to the state of being holy or sacred. The video discusses sanctity in relation to the lives of saints like Padre Pio, emphasizing that their holiness is not due to the miraculous events but rather their virtues like humility and obedience. Sanctity is portrayed as a state that all can aspire to through living in accordance with God's will.

💡Bilocating

Bilocating, or bilocation, is the ability to be in two places at once. Padre Pio is mentioned to have exhibited this ability, which is considered miraculous. The script uses bilocation as an example of the extraordinary spiritual gifts that some saints are believed to possess.

💡Healing

Healing, in the context of the video, refers to the miraculous recovery of health through spiritual means, often associated with the prayers or touch of a saint. Padre Pio is noted for his ability to heal people, which is used to illustrate the miraculous aspects of his life but also to contrast with the more attainable virtues of humility and obedience.

💡Grace

Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God. The script mentions that the miraculous events in the lives of saints like Padre Pio are all due to grace, emphasizing that these are gifts from God and not something that can be earned or achieved through human effort.

💡Superior

In a religious context, a superior refers to a person in a higher position of authority, such as a religious leader. The script mentions Padre Pio's superiors as figures of authority who instructed him to stop certain public religious practices, demonstrating the importance of obedience in religious life.

💡Will of God

The will of God refers to what God desires or intends. The video emphasizes that being holy or a saint is about doing the will of God at every moment. This concept is central to the message that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can live a holy life by aligning their actions with divine intentions.

💡Ascension Presents

Ascension Presents is the production company or entity responsible for the video. It is mentioned at the beginning and end of the script, framing the content as part of a series or collection of presentations related to religious themes and teachings.

Highlights

Father Mike Schmitz discusses the celebration of saints' days in Minnesota.

Emphasis on the miraculous aspects of saints like St. Thérèse and Padre Pio.

Padre Pio's life marked with miraculous events and his healing abilities.

The importance of not just focusing on the miraculous but also the virtues of the saints.

Padre Pio's humility and obedience despite his miraculous experiences.

The moment Padre Pio was told he could no longer say Mass or preach publicly.

Padre Pio's response to his superiors' instructions as a demonstration of humility.

The holiness of Padre Pio was marked by obedience and humility, not just miracles.

The idea that everyone can practice humility by acknowledging their gifts and weaknesses.

Humility is defined as speaking the truth about oneself.

The concept that all individuals have someone to whom they are accountable.

The virtue of obedience as a universal value that everyone can exercise.

The assertion that the secret to holiness is doing the will of God at every moment.

The possibility for everyone to live like a saint through God's grace.

The conclusion that all can do the will of God regardless of their life's circumstances.

Father Mike Schmitz's blessing and sign-off from Ascension Presents.

Transcripts

My name's Father Mike Schmitz and this is Ascension Presents.

You know, I was thinking this week here in Minnesota, we've been celebrating a bunch of saints' days last week,

the week before, this week.

When it comes to St. Thèrése, when it comes to Padre Pio,

when it comes to like all the angels and stuff.

You know, last month in August, we celebrated Saint John Vianney.

When I think of like two of those guys, Padre Pio and St. John Vianney,

I just think of like their remarkable lives.

And Padre Pio is just an example. You know, Saint Pio, I think they call him now St. Pius of Pietrelcina,

this man's life was just marked with all of these miraculous things that had happened.

And sometimes, when we hear about the saints,

we just we can focus on the miraculous stuff that happened in their lives,

like Padre Pio bilocating or Padre Pio, you know, his prayers like healing people not even just immediately,

he'd lay hands on people and they'd be healed or he would say a word and they'd be healed

but he was just even pray for them.

He got a letter and he'd prayed for that person and they'd be healed like on the other side of the Atlantic.

And just ridiculous, incredible.

Not only that, but Padre Pio, you know, had these these mystical experiences with our crucified Lord Jesus.

I mean, just where he had the spiritual and physical stigmata, the wounds of Christ, in his very body

and sometimes we can look at this and we can think, "That's incredible but that's not my life.

Like, I can never do that."

Well, yes. Probably not because it's all grace, right? It's all gift.

But like that's not in my life so what does that mean for me? Does it mean that I can't be a saint?

Does it mean that I'm not as great?

I'd point this out, especially when it comes when it came to like someone like Padre Pio.

Padre Pio was not great because of those miracles. He wasn't great necessarily because of the stigmata.

There was one moment in Padre Pio's life as a Capuchin friar as a Franciscan,

where these miraculous things were happening to him and his superiors said

that he would no longer be able to either say Mass in public or preach in public, that kind of a thing,

and Padre Pio rather than saying, "Wait a second. I've got all these great amazing things happening to me.

Don't tell me what to do,"

in humility and obedience, he simply did what he was told to do.

and I would say if there's anything anything at all that marked the holiness of Padre Pio,

it wasn't the bilocation and it wasn't the miracles and it wasn't the healings and it wasn't the stigmata.

What marked the holiness of Padre Pio were those two simple things: obedience and humility.

Now my guess is this:

Whereas none of us can create and none of us can be committed to, you know, gifts of healing

or the gift of bilocation or to gifts of any other thing like stigmata,

all of us can be humble.

And humility isn't saying "I'm so bad. I'm so bad."

Humility is simply saying the truth.

The truth of me is I've got certain gifts and I've got certain weaknesses.

My gifts come from God. My weaknesses, I need to hand over to God.

Simple. Super simple.

And the virtue of obedience,

to be able to say all of us, all of us have someone to whom we answer.

Someone whom we serve. Someone that gets to tell us what to do.

And all of us can exercise those two virtues of humility and obedience

and that was, essentially, you could say the secret of the holiness of Padre Pio

and essentially is the secret of holiness for every saint

because to be holy, to be a saint, is to simply do the will of God at every moment.

And all of us, no matter what your state in life, no matter where you're at in life, whether you are a Capuchin friar

or whether you're a mom or a single-person husband and dad, a priest, whatever you're doing,

all of us can do the will of God, which means this:

All of us,

by God's grace,

can live like a saint today.

From myself, Father Mike Schmitz, and from Ascension Presents,

God bless.