PADRE PIO

Padre Pio, the contemporary Italian Capuchin stigmatist of San Gieven Rotondo is the subject of this highly interesting study. The author has been a pilgrim to his convent often and what he says of the holy, although controversial, figure, is based on his first-hand witness. He recounts the friar's life from childhood with, of course, special stress on the monastic years with their history of conspicuous sanctity and remarkable phenomena, culminating in the reproductions , Padre Pio's body, of the Five Wounds of Christ. The writer, who does an and plausible job of presentation, is wholly on the side of those who regard Padre Pio, not as a victim of psychological hysteria, but as a holy man divi gifted. His book is an absorbing description of one of the few religious marvels of . Whatever his perssions, the reader will respect this solid offering of the history of Padre Pio's case. Recommended for all.