Padre Pio to His Children

Blessed be the Lord. The work that last year stood at the dawn of its life now celebrates its first anniversary.

The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza has already opened its arms to thousands of suffering bodies and souls, extending your charity indiscriminately to all its patients. From the wealthiest to the poorest, all have benefited generously from the resources you have provided.

God has warmed the seed that was planted with His rays of love. From its inception until now, the work has relied on the generosity of compassionate individuals to establish its legal foundation, and I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to them. Today, by decree of the Holy Father, the work has achieved autonomy. The Supreme Pontiff, with his wise and generous care, has ensured that the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza is granted a legal structure perfectly suited to its mission.

The Holy Father has authorized the reorganization of its property, placing its assets under the administration of the Congregation of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which will assume responsibility for its management. In the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, prayers have always been offered fervently for the exalted person of the Vicar of Christ. Now, through this sovereign act, the Casa Sollievo is bound by profound gratitude to Pius XII, who has guided its earliest steps and laid the foundation for its future.

Today, we take up the second stage of the journey before us.

This is our path: the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza once again calls upon your generosity so that it may grow into a hospital city, fully equipped to meet the most advanced clinical demands.

The Casa must expand its capacity by increasing its number of beds. Furthermore, it must include two additional facilities—one for women and one for men—where weary souls and bodies may turn to the Lord and find solace in His embrace.

An intercontinental study center must also be established to support medical professionals in advancing their expertise and deepening their Christian formation.

We are called to complete this work so that it may become a temple of prayer and science—a place where humanity can unite in Jesus Crucified, as one flock under one shepherd.

The children of this Work, who gather in prayer around the world in the spirit of our Seraphic Father Saint Francis and in alignment with the directives and intentions of the Pope, must find here the common home for their prayer groups. Priests will find in this place a cenacle of retreat; men, women, and religious will discover homes where they can deepen their spiritual formation and ascend toward God. Through faith, detachment, and devotion, they will live the love of God, the ultimate fulfillment of Christian perfection.

Love is the realization and expression of the abundant life that Jesus proclaimed He came to bring. Let us heed His invitation: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain in my love.” Jesus unites His divine role as Teacher with that of Healer, the Physician of souls. He is the Author of Life, who, having died once, reigns forever alive.

If this Work served only to ease bodily suffering, it would merely be the creation of a model clinic, brought into existence by your extraordinary generosity. But it is called to be much more: an active and living testament to the love of God, brought to life through the practice of charity.

Within these walls, those who suffer must encounter the love of God—through the wise acceptance of their pain, the peaceful contemplation of their destiny in Him, and the deepening of their love for Jesus Crucified. That love must radiate from all who care for the afflictions of both body and soul.

Here, the patients, doctors, and priests will become reservoirs of love—love that, the more abundant it is in one, the more freely it will flow to others.

Priests and doctors, bound by their duty of charity toward the sick, will feel the burning call to remain themselves in the love of God. In doing so, they and those in their care will all share one dwelling place in Him, who is Light and Love.

May all humanity feel summoned to collaborate in this apostolate among the suffering and may all respond to the urging of the Spirit. They will receive from Jesus the glory the Father gave to Him, and they will become one in Him: “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be brought to perfect unity, and the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.”

May Mary Most Holy of Grace, the Queen to whom we daily and repeatedly express our love and to whom we seek maternal assistance, always reign sovereign over the city that will rise around Her Temple, and may She watch over you all.

May the Madonna enkindle in her children a fervent love for the Vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth, and one day, may she reveal to us Jesus in the splendor of His Glory.