Eight years later, on Septermber 20, 1918, the five wounds of Our Lord's Passion appeared on his body, making him the first stigmatized priest in the history of the Church.

During his heroic priesthood that lasted for 58 years, countless numbers of people passed through his confessional and many others received saintly counsel and spiritual guidance from him.

In his letters to his confessor we discover the incredible sufferings, both physical and spiritual, that were followed by the inmeasurable joys brought by his intimate and continuous union with God and his fervent love for the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Virgin Mary.

Padre Pio was taken home to Heaven on September 23, 1968. After a public funeral which attracted almost 100,000, his body was entombed in the crypt of Our Lady of Grace Church. Increasing numbers flock to his tomb from all parts of the world and many testify to spiritual and temporal graces received. On Feb. 16th, 1973, the Archbishop of Manfredonia, Mgr. Valentino Vailati, consigned the documentation to the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints so as to obtain the "nihil obstat" for the beginning of the process of his Beatification.