Padre Pio - The Holy Man on the Mountain

If you want to read a really good Padre Pio book, this is it. Written in 2004 by a third order Franciscan, Frank Rega, it talks about the special relationship Padre Pio had with Americans. The tale of the flying monk is my favourite, where Padre Pio was seen in the sky by many different Allied pilots, telling them to turn back and rendering them incapable of dropping bombs or advancing any further.

There are also accounts of Padre Pio bilocating and speaking to people in Italian, while they hear him in their own language. The life of Mary Pyle, who renounced a worldly life style to embark on a spiritual journey under the guidance of Padre Pio, is well documented here, and adds an interesting dimension to the book. Mary was a spiritual daughter of the great saint, and her own cause for beatification is proceeding.

There are quite a few books on Padre Pio out there, and I have read several, but this one is the most captivating and well written. My copy is never on the shelf for long. I keep lending it out and as soon as I get it back, out it goes again!