An Interview With St. Padre Pio’s Secretary

[ 17 ] March 8, 2013 AD |

padre pio blessing

On August 31 in 2009, I – then a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Times - followed a Capuchin friar from the chapel at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Tampa to his desk in his office next door. Fr. John Aurilia, then Most Holy Redeemer’s pastor, agreed to let me interview him for the paper.

I dove right in with questions: What vows does a friar take? Why did you become a priest? What exactly do you own (not much!), and do you really live in poverty? Fr. John answered with humility and an Italian accent. He shared his story, eventually divulging what I never expected he would:

“In 1967, I was called to be Padre Pio’s secretary,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said, certain I had misheard him. “Whose secretary? I thought you said Padre Pio…”

As it turns out, he did.

Fr. John was ordained a priest in Campobasso, Italy by Bishop Alberto Carinci on Dec. 17, 1966. In 1967, for the month of August, he served as St. Padre Pio’s temporary secretary. Padre Pio was a friar known for receiving the stigmata (wounds like Christ’s); for bilocation (yes, being in two places at once); and for miraculously knowing stuff that nobody told him. Padre Pio died in 1968 and was canonized a saint by the Catholic Church in 2002. Now, Fr. John is pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Passaic, N.J. He and I have kept in touch since I interviewed him for the paper, and he was gracious to chat with me about Padre Pio:

father john aurilia

Fr. John Aurilia

AS: Did you know, or had you met Padre Pio before you served as his secretary?

Fr. John: Yes, when we were in the Minor Seminary in Pietrelcina, about 40 miles from San Giovanni Rotondo, we used to visit Padre Pio very frequently to get his blessings. For about 10 years before I became his personal secretary, there was a constant contact with Padre Pio. Then, I was requested to substitute (for) his personal secretary for a month.

AS: What did you know about Padre Pio before you worked with him?

Fr. John: That he was a saintly Friar, that he performed miracles, he had the stigmata, and the gift of knowing hearts and minds, and the gift of bilocation.

AS: Where did you and Padre Pio work and live?

Fr. John: The office where I worked was on the third floor of the friary. I was sleeping on the second floor, where the others friars were sleeping (including Padre Pio). There were at that time about 15 friars living in the friary. The dining room was on the first floor. The friary was attached to the church, so that the friars could go to the church without going outside. In front of the church and the friary there is a big plaza to accommodate the crowds, and access public transportation to the city. The Hospital Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza is located about 500 feet from the church. The friary has a secluded garden in the back, with huge trees, vegetable garden, flowers, big enough to take a good walk through the many walkways. At my time, the whole place was always very busy as it is now…even more! The town of St. Giovanni Rotondo originally was not connected with our friary and church, as it is now. When Padre Pio was a young priest stationed in San Giovanni Rotondo (in the 1920s-40s) the friary was not accessible by public transportation. It was only accessible by walking or riding a mule or donkey. It was located on top of the hill.

AS: What did you discover about Padre Pio by being his personal secretary?

Fr. John: I did not discover anything new from what I knew before, except that his best gift was the gift of humility, because, although people were coming to him by the thousands, he was always humble, and never changed his daily schedule: many hours of prayer, many hours of confessions, and a long mass (more than an hour).

AS: When I think of St. Padre Pio, I think of the stigmata, and of a prayer of his that I frequently pray. What do you think of when you think of Padre Pio?

Fr. John: I think of a regular human being, who happened to be very saintly, by the grace of God. He always kept his smile, in spite the many sufferings. I also think of Padre Pio as a humble, pleasant, and prayerful person.

AS: My favorite St. Padre Pio quote is the popular and powerful “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” While you worked with him, what – if anything – did Padre Pio say to you personally that enriched your life like “Pray, hope, and don’t worry” enriches mine?

Fr. John: He spoke to me without words. He spoke to me very eloquently and powerfully with his way of life (constant prayer and suffering). I do remember that he told me something really insightful about prayer: “John, prayer is the key which opens the doors of heaven.”

AS: Did you witness firsthand the stigmata, bilocation, or other miracles?

Fr. John: Yes, I saw the stigmata many times, when he did not have on the half-gloves. I never experienced bilocation and other miracles, but I do know they are true because the people who were affected by (it) told me first hand. I once experienced something unusual. I did not know how to answer to a lady who was asking (in a letter to Padre Pio) if (her) son (should) be a doctor or a priest. So, I went to Padre Pio (to ask) how to answer. Padre Pio never saw the letter, which I had in my hands, and before I started asking, he promptly said: “Tell her the son is going to be a good doctor.” I was shocked!

AS: In what way is your spirituality or priesthood influenced by St. Pio?

Fr. John: After living with him, I understood that my priesthood is not mine, it belongs to Jesus. I am only an unworthy instrument. I also believe that prayer and humility are the greatest strengths I find in my religious life.

AS: Do you frequently ask St. Pio to intercede for intentions in prayer?

Fr. John: Yes. I ask him every day, sometimes more than once a day.

AS: Why would you recommend we ask St. Pio to intercede for us?

Fr. John: Because I know him, I spoke to him, I touched him, I love him.

AS: How did St. Pio’s death and canonization impact you?

Fr. John: The death and canonization impacted me in a way that my life was never the same ever since: a new look at religious life, more positive about goals to achieve and virtues to pursue.

AS: What, ultimately, did you learn about God and/or life by working with Padre Pio?

Fr. John: I learned that God is not a judge, but a loving Father and Mother, and life is worth living, only if there is plenty of hope, faith, and love.

- – - -

This interview originally appeared on arleenspenceley.com.

Click here to read the story I wrote about Fr. John for the Times.

Click here to visit Fr. John’s church website.

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Category: Religion, Uncategorized

About the Author ()

Arleen Spenceley is a Roman Catholic Christian, a writer, and a counselor. She has a master's degree in rehabilitation and mental health counseling from the University of South Florida and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the same university. She worked as a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Times from July 2007 through Dec. 2012 and also has worked in communications, radio promotions, and fried chicken.

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  • Michelle

    That anecdote about the letter… Mind blown!

  • Brad

    The anecdote of the letter is charming but pales in comparison to other aspects of St. Pio’s life, that is, the gifts he received from God, gifts that glorified God the Giver, as all gifts do, and not the lowly recipient. I recall that the saint would greet the guardian angel(s) of a person before he would greet the person himself. The saint was in total, open, regular communication with angels; these are beings just as we men are beings and once the wall comes down, the two species have no trouble interacting with one another very commonly and logistically. He would also request his own guardian to “run errands” of charity for him.

    The saint’s final words at the moment of death were two: “Jesus, Mary”. Thus the proof of a saint: recognizing one’s own poverty and the God of love who pities and saves.

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  • mark

    “I learned that God is not a judge” – Does that mean that there is no Hell and we can all do what we want??!!! Yippee
    I wonder would Fr Pio agree with you Fr John?

    • joseph

      Seems like this Mark lacks humility, since he mocks father John. God is a Father in the holy Trinity by essence, not a judge.

    • Tanya

      You have to be careful to not split hairs with comments. ” I learned that God is not a judge” does not imply that hell disappears. It does mean, as I read it, that God doesn’t stand over us with a whip waiting to hit us every time we do something wrong. When your parents corrected you, did that, out of the blue, make you see them as ALWAYS ( caps for emphasis only here) as Judges, and this means, according to your literal interpretation here, that they would show no mercy the next time you did wrong, before or during? Of course God corrects us, one way or another. But being a judge does not mean that love and mercy disappear from Him, ESPECIALLY when it comes to God. Please come to your senses and dont’ ask ” I wonder if Fr. Pio would aree with you Father John? ” Give me a break.

    • Anonymous

      You are misinterpreting what FR. John means when he says, “God is not a judge”. He means that God loved us enough to send His Son to us and for Him to die for our sins. However, it defintely does not mean there is no hell. If we love and respect God we will live life without offending Him and follow all He has taught us through the Scriptures, If we break His commandments then, at the end of our lives, He will defintely judge us, because we have chosen hell for ourselves if we do not repent of our sins.

  • Charles Fears

    My discernment on how souls go to Hell or Purgatory or Heaven

    In September, of 1995, my wife, my daughter and I went to a Marian conference in Chicago. While we there listening to the speakers, a thought came to my mind about how souls go to hell. Now no one was talking about this subject, for some reason I just started thinking about it. Before I go on, I must tell you that I have read several messages that state that God does not send souls to hell, that the soul sends itself to hell, and I had wondered how this could happen.
    Well as I said, I was thinking about this, and it is like this, darkness is sin and light is God. Now if a person lives in a room or cave of compete darkness and has been there for along time, when that person comes into the light, he or she can not stand the light so the person goes back in to the dark room. This is like a soul that has lived in sin, when the soul dies, it can not stand to look at God, Who is pure Light, so the soul drives itself into hell.
    Now the next day I was praying before Jesus in the blessed sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, when I began to think of this again and it was like this, a soul who lives in sin lives in darkness, but if the soul, while still living would let some light in, then when the soul died it would be like a person, who was in a dark room but let some light in. So then when the person went into the Light, he or she would be able to squint their eyes and look at the light and eventually be able to open their eyes all the way. This would be a soul that, when it died was not pure enough to go to heaven, so it went to purgatory.
    All souls are different some have to squint harder then others and some can adjust faster to the light and some live always in the light, their eyes are wide open, these go straight to heaven.

    Now on this same subject I would like to quote from the book “The Victorious Queen of The World”, a spiritual diary of a mystic, Sr. Natalia of Hungary, page 45:

    “Once I cried on Jesus shoulder: “Why did you create hell?” To answer me, Jesus brought me to the judgment of a very sinful soul, whose sins He forgave. Satan was outraged!
    “You are not just! This soul was mine all his life!” He shouted to Jesus: “This one committed so many sins, while I committed only one, and You still created hell for me.”
    Jesus then with unbound love told Satan: “Lucifer! Did you ever ask Me for forgiveness?” Then Lucifer, seemingly beside himself, shouted: “That never! That I will never do!”
    Then Jesus turned to me, “You see, if he could ask Me for forgiveness only once, hell would cease to exist.”

    In November 1995 I bought a book “The Sorrow, The Sacrifice, and The Triumph” by Thomas W. Petrisko, which had just come out in November 1995. This book is about Christina Gallagher, The Apparitions, Visions, and Prophecies.

    Now I do not promote or judge Christina Gallagher or any other visionary. I do read several books that I get at Marian conferences and some are on visionaries. I try to do as St. Paul says: Hold on to the good and let go of the bad and obey what the Church teaches.

    Now I would like to quote, what happens at death starting on page 117, “ When release from the body each soul is destined for immortal life, and its future in eternity is determined by its state when death takes place and the soul is released from the body.

    When the body dies and the soul is released, it suddenly finds itself in the full light of awareness, able to see itself as it stands in the sight of God. It then realizes the darkness to which the body’s actions condemned it. The sensitivity of the soul to the enormity of the Light of God is like the naked eye before the brilliance of a thousand suns, and the soul in darkness quivers in pain. It plunges itself into the sea of Hell to avoid the pain of the enormity of the Light.”

    Purgatory
    “The soul destined for Purgatory seeks shade at the level in Purgatory appropriate to its own imperfection. It will automatically plunge itself into which it failed to atone sufficiently; it will gladly go to whatever level of Purgatory is necessary, and it will be eternally grateful to God, in the knowledge that it will one day gain His Presence in Heaven.
    2/17/05 Also from The Diary Of St. Faustina, I quote, “After these words, I received a deeper understanding of divine mercy. Only that soul who wants [to be damned] will be damned, for God condemns no one.(1452)
    To St. Faustina: “My daughter, know without a doubt, and once and for all, that only mortal sin drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else.” (1181) AND “My daughter, know that you give Me greater glory by a single act of obedience than by long prayers and mortifications.” (894)

    Also from The Diary Of St. Faustina, I quote, “At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.” (153)
    Here is something else I would like to share with you.
    This is why Jesus asks us to live in constant penance for our sins! We should meditate on how much He suffered for our sins, in order that we might reach salvation. We should ask His forgiveness often and love Him for His unfathomable love!

    Go in peace and the Love of God

    • http://faustynka.livejournal.com/ Faustynka

      What a beautiful testimony – thank you so much for sharing your insights about hell, Purgatory, ahd Heaven. God is indeed the Divine Light, and we should seek to constantly fill our soul, heart and mind with it, so that our being be always aspiring to be a sweet, loving, if dim reflection God’s Light into world – and to be able to recognize and receive His Light when we come into His Kingdom. There should be no room in our lives for darkness …

    • Anonymous

      Thank you Charles

    • Domingo

      Thanks, Charles, for this wonderful post. I’ve learned a lot from it. May you continue to open your heart to God’s grace so that you can share it with others.

    • Anonymous

      Very nice article. God bless. Praise jesus

      • Anonymous

        I have been checking out and discerning who will be the next pope.
        It is my discernment on who ever becomes the next pope that he will take the name Pope Pius XIII.
        That he will be a very holy pope and that he will lead the church and the world through great suffering, passion and resurrection.
        That he will always do the WILL OF GOD.
        I believe that he will be picked my GOD and formed my our blessed Mother Mary, lead by the Holy Spirit and live the Life of Christ.
        Young Filipino Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle could be next pope
        Sorry in changing the subject, I have been doing a lot of praying for next pope.

  • http://markdohle.blogspot.com/ Mark Dohle

    If the soul allows itself to become a lie, then when shown the painful light of truth and mercy, it withdraws into further darkness. This is a choice, a free choice. If not, then there is something deeper going on and in the end mercy will triumph, it just may take more time. However I believe that it is possible to freely decide not to seek mercy, either in this life, or in the next. Hell is self-righteousness chosen freely for eternity. Is that possible? Yes it is. I see it in myself. This pull towards humility, the earthy virtue of accepting truth about my self, and running away into a safe, small place, alone, isolated.

  • thomas

    GOD is not a judge?????? what a jerk

  • http://duckduckgo.com Mary

    Thomas,

    Our Lord Jesus Christ chose His priests; His Anointed ones.

    So I ask you, Is HE a jerk?

    You rush to, judgement of the good Padre and in your haste lose sight of the Virtue of Charity

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