ANSWER: To prevent Allied bombers from bombing his hometown in Italy!

 

Padre Pio, who died in 1968, appeared in the sky above his hometown of San Giovanni Rotundo to prevent the American bombers from dropping their bombs during World War II. It worked. The pilots returned to base explaining to their commander that a giant monk was in the sky stopping them.

The WW II event “was directly witnessed by the general of Aeronautica Italiana Bernardo Rosini, who at that time was part of the "United Air Command" operating out of Bari with the Allied air forces. "Each time that the pilots returned from their missions," General Rosini told me, "they spoke of this Friar that appeared in the sky and diverted their airplanes, making them turn back.” (Source: “I Miracoli d Padre Pio”, by Renzo Allegri,199Pages 110-111.   ISBN 88-04-41322-0

Biography of Padre Pio

Padre Pio Received the Stigmata after offering himself as a Sacrifice to End the First World War

What is a Stigmata?

 

Padre Pio received his stigmata from the Lord himself while praying before a crucifix. The event occurred shortly after Padre Pio offered himself as a Sacrifice for an end to the First World War. One of Padre Pio’s gifts was bilocation (appearing in more than one place at once – for example in Italy AND America)

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