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Padre Pio for History

The fourth of seven children from a very modest family, Francesco Forgione was born in 1887 at Pietrelcina Benevento, in Campania, in southern Italy. His religious vocation started early. On 5 January 1903 he joined the Capuchin noviciate (under the name of Brother Pio). This was followed by secondary school studies, then by philosophy, and finally by theology. On 27 January 1907, he took his solemn vows.

In 1911, his state of health (which had never been very good) took a turn for the worse, to the point where Padre Pio was almost considered as lost. After stays in two monasteries where his state of health hardly changed, he was sent to the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, a small village on the slopes of Mount Gargano. His health improved a little and he stayed there until his death, 52 years later, on 23 September1968.

An exceptional life:

In August 1918, Padre Pio received the gift of ‘transverberation’ (1). One month later, he received that of the ‘stigmata’(1). The news spread fast, all the more so since he was already known as a great ‘director of conscience’. Moreover, numerous miracles had already been attributed to him. (1) : see definitions below

Starting in June 1922, his problems began; they would only end in the last few years of his life. At the instigation of his own bishop (a dishonest man, a thief, unfaithful to his vows as well) and of a few monks, the Vatican limited his priestly prerogatives (he was forbidden to say Mass in public, to meet parishioners, etc). Many accusations were also made against him, the principal one being that ‘He inflicts the stigmata on himself with acid’. Some went as far as to put microphones in his confessional to trap him. In vain. Over several decades, six or seven teams of medical experts examined him and declared that a fraud was impossible. All through his life, Padre Pio was distinguished by the appearance around his person of the mysterious phenomenon called ‘the dark night’, an internal purifying night made of unspeakable suffering and known by all the great mystics (the expression comes from Saint John of the Cross).

In 1947, at the instigation of Padre Pio, the construction of the Casa sollievo della sofferenza (House for the Relief of Suffering) began: a hospital designed to welcome everybody without distinctions of class or money. Here too, the polemics redoubled: some were furious to see the money of the faithful deserting the coffers of the diocese in favour of the new building project. At the same time, innumerable attestations of miraculous healing were circulating and the monastery became known all over the world as a popular pilgrimage destination. 40 years after the death of the priest, San Giovanni Rotondo still maintains his cult with fervour. Padre Pio was canonised in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

Preamble to the opera

In 2005, I had composed a short symphonic piece entitled La Lance et le Sang (‘The Lance and the Blood’). I had been inspired by the two most striking facts (in the eyes of a layman) in the story of Padre Pio's journey towards (what is called) sainthood: ‘transverberation’ and the appearance of ‘stigmata’.

Joachim Bouflet (without a doubt the best biographer of Padre Pio) describes ‘transverberation’ as an ‘experience lived in a mode of paroxysms of pain and internal agony’. The ‘stigmata’ are bloody wounds appearing without any apparent cause, and which are similar to those inflicted on Christ on the cross (on hands, feet and side).

As soon as it was finished, I was aware that this short piece (two extracts of which are at your disposal on this site on the “recordings” page) could only be the sketch of something larger; I promised to come back to it one day, though I did not know yet what to do with it. Without the excellent biography by Joachim Bouflet (‘Padre Pio‘), so rich in original texts from the priest, I probably would not have chosen ‘opera mode’. I would also like to mention here a friend, Alex Millet, a composer living in the US. He was the first one who suggested I should write an opera. Even if the size of the task might one day lead me to curse him (!), I could never thank him enough for this suggestion which at present and every morning brings me so many true musical delights.

Construction of the Libretto

A delicate choice

It was soon evident to me that there were only two classic ways of approaching this subject.

Either it would be a hagiography, with a collection of pious and graceful marvels. The church itself seems to consider that such presentations no longer make much of a contribution to the development of the faith for the public!

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