A letter from Padre Pio to Annita Rodote
Beloved
daughter of Jesus,
May Jesus and our Mother always smile on
your soul, obtaining for it, from Her most holy Son, all the heavenly charisms!
I am writing to you for two reasons: to answer some more questions from your last
letter, and to wish you a very happy names-day in the most sweet Jesus, full of
all the most special heavenly graces.
Oh! If Jesus granted my prayers
for you or, better still, if only my prayers were worthy of being granted by
Jesus! However, I increase them a
hundredfold for your consolation and salvation, begging Jesus to grant them,
not for me but through the heart of his paternal goodness and infinite mercy.
In
order to avoid irreverence and imperfections in the house of God, in church -
which the divine Master calls the house of prayer - I exhort you in the Lord to
practice the following.
Enter the church in silence and with great
respect, considering yourself unworthy to appear before the Lord's
Majesty. Amongst other pious
considerations, remember that our soul is the temple of God
and, as such, we must keep it pure and spotless before God and his angels. Let
us blush for having given access to the devil and his snares many times (with
his enticements to the world, his pomp, his calling to the flesh) by not being
able to keep our hearts pure and our bodies chaste; for having allowed our
enemies to insinuate themselves into our hearts, thus desecrating the temple of
God which we became through holy Baptism.
Then take holy water and make the sign of
the cross carefully and slowly.
As soon as you are before God in the
Blessed Sacrament, devoutly genuflect.
Once you have found your place, kneel down and render the tribute of
your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him along with
those of others. Speak to him with filial
abandonment, give free rein to your heart and give him complete freedom to work
in you as he thinks best.
When assisting at Holy Mass and the sacred
functions, be very composed when standing up, kneeling down, and sitting, and
carry out every religious act with the greatest devotion. Be modest in your glances; don't turn your
head here and there to see who enters and leaves. Don't laugh, out of reverence for this holy
place and also out of respect for those who are near you. Try not to speak to anybody, except when
charity or strict necessity requests this.
If you pray with others, say the words of
the prayer distinctly, observe the pauses well and never hurry.
In short, behave in such a way that all
present are edified by it and, through you, are urged to glorify and love the
heavenly Father.
On leaving the church, you should be
recollected and calm. Firstly take your
leave of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; ask his forgiveness for the
shortcomings committed in his divine presence and do not leave him without asking
for and having received his paternal blessing.
Once you are outside the church, be as
every follower of the Nazarene should be.
Above all, be extremely modest in everything, as this is the virtue
which, more than any other, reveals the affections of the heart. Nothing represents an object more faithfully
or clearly than a mirror. In the same
way, nothing more widely represents the good or bad qualities of a soul than
the greater or lesser regulation of the exterior, as when one appears more or less
modest. You must be modest in speech,
modest in laughter, modest in your bearing, modest in walking. All this must be practiced, not out of
vanity in order to display one's self, nor out of hypocrisy in order to appear
to be good to the eyes of others, but rather, for the internal virtue of
modesty, which regulates the external workings of the body.
Therefore, be humble of heart, circumspect
in words, prudent in your resolutions.
Always be sparing in your speech, assiduous in good reading, attentive
in your work, modest in your conversation.
Don't be disgusting to anybody but be benevolent towards all and
respectful towards your elders. May any
sinister glance be far from you, may no daring word escape your lips, may you
never carry out any immodest or somewhat free action; never a rather free
action or a petulant tone of voice.
In short let your whole exterior be a
vivid image of the composure of your soul.
Always keep the modesty of the divine
Master before your eyes, as an example; this Master who, according to the words
of the Apostle to the Corinthians, placing the modesty of Jesus Christ on an
equal footing with meekness, which was his one particular virtue and almost his
characteristic: "Now I Paul myself
beseech you, by the mildness and modesty of Christ" [Douay-Rheims, 2 Cor.
10:1], and according to such a perfect model reform all your external
operations, which should be faithful reflections revealing the affections of
your interior.
Never forget this divine model,
Annita. Try to see a certain lovable majesty
in his presence, a certain pleasant authority in his manner of speaking, a
certain pleasant dignity in walking, in contemplating, speaking, conversing; a
certain sweet serenity of face. Imagine
that extremely composed and sweet expression with which he drew the crowds,
making them leave cities and castles, leading them to the mountains, the
forests, to the solitude and deserted beaches of the sea, totally forgetting
food, drink and their domestic duties.
Thus let us try to imitate, as far as we
possibly can, such modest and dignified actions. And let us do our utmost to be, as far as
possible, similar to him on this earth, in order that we might be more perfect
and more similar to him for the whole of eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem.
I end here as I am unable to continue,
recommending that you never forget me before Jesus, especially during these
days of extreme affliction for me. I
expect the same charity from the excellent Francesca to whom you will have the
kindness to give, in my name, assurances of my extreme interest in seeing her
grow always more in divine love. I hope
she will do me the charity of making a novena of Communions for my intentions.
Don't worry if you are unable to answer my
letter for the moment. I know
everything so don't worry.
I take my leave of you in the holy kiss of
the Lord. I am always your servant.
Fra Pio, Capuchin
A
Letter from St. Padre Pio to Annita Rodote
Pietrelcina,
July 25, 1915
