March (Lent) 2007

Dedicated to St. Joseph

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thusday Friday Saturday
This month’s words from Padre Pio are taken from his letters of 1918 to Maria Gargani: February 19, March 28, April 9, May 18 and 30, June 13 and 26 1 The heart is ready for everything but …the ingratitude with which one corresponds to God makes our good intentions less effective. 2 Practice gentleness in all misfortunes which often present themselves. 3 If you are steadfast in the hands of God amidst your worries as you go about your tasks…God will help you.
4 The slightest consolation from God you feel will be greater than any the world could give. 5 Pray that the Lord grant you gentleness of spirit 6 You should undertake this task of mastering yourself, call it to mind a hundred times a day 7 Continue to serve the infinite goodness of the heavenly Father with ever-increasing sincerity and gentleness of spirit. 8 Keep your affections subordinate to those that are in harmony with the Father’s Will. 9 Live tranquilly and console yourself knowing that the Lord loves and assists you. 10 Trust and love the goodness of our God.
11 Jesus is present in your trials precisely in the center of your heart. 12 Whoever loves, suffers. This is the indispensable law of the pilgrim soul. 13 Pray for everyone, especially for sinners 14 May the Holy Spirit fill your soul with its heavenly charisms and render you strong. 15 Live tranquilly without anxiety or agitation of heart. 16 Lift up your heart … Let your soul expand before the divine Son. 17 If you have good intention, you cannot but walk well.
18 The Lord is with you and it is precisely He who is working within you. 19 Abandon yourself totally in the arms of the divine goodness of the heavenly Father and do not fear. 20 Resign yourself to the will of God. 21 Bless the hand that shakes your spirit and body, convinced that it is always the hand of the Father. 22 You must hide yourself in the Heart of Jesus. 23 No soul, who has chosen divine love…can be selfish in the Heart of Jesus. 24 Pronounce the fiat (let it be) of trusting resignation…for your greater holiness and the salvation of souls.
25 Faith and hope…unite you more to the Supreme Good (God). 26 Jesus will continue to love you dearly even if, more often than not, you do not feel it. 27 Jesus always be blessed and thanked…and be the peaceful King of your heart. 28 The world with its prudence and maxims has never made a virtuous soul. 29 Do not be afflicted on seeing yourself so imperfect and full of defects…God permits this to make you humble. 30 With iron will…hope in God… 31 Lose yourself in the Creator with continual love for holy humility and simplicity of heart.

website: www.PPPG.org


Lenten Journey

Lord Jesus Christ, you gather your people during this holy season of Lent, and you call us to repent and believe the Gospel. Remove any barriers that keep us from you so that we might live fully the life we received at Baptism and carry our cross each day with You. You have given us Padre Pio of Pietrelcina as a modern image of Yourself , the Suffering Servant. Through his intercession and your divine grace, may we turn to you in our need, thank you in our abundance, and share your love with the world around us. Amen.

Prayer before the Litany of the Stations:

We adore You. Most holy Lord Jesus Christ and we praise you, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Litany of the Stations of the Cross

  1. Lord Jesus, that I may see the people in my life through your eyes, and not the eyes of a Pontius Pilate, who washed his hands of responsibility, through Your life-giving Sacrifice, and the intercession of Padre Pio, grant me this grace.

Prayer after each Station:

XJesus Christ Crucified have mercy on us. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Have mercy on us.

  1. Lord Jesus, that I may embrace the crosses of my life, so that in recognizing my weaknesses I may discover Your strengths, X
  2. Lord Jesus, that I may always trust in Your loving care for me, even when I fall, X
  3. Lord Jesus, that I may see how often You love me through the people in my life, as Mary loved you, and that I may always keep our Blessed Mother Mary, who accompanies me in life’s journey, in my heart, X
  1. Lord Jesus, that I may recognize that loving others and assisting them in their need is the surest way to find and recognize You in my life, as Simon of Cyrene did, X
  2. Lord Jesus, that I may have a deeper and more courageous faith to be unafraid to reach out to others, as Veronica did to You, X
  3. Lord Jesus, that I may never hide behind pride, and that I may be ready and willing to begin again after my repeated falls, X
  4. Lord Jesus, that I may show compassion to others in their sorrow or need, and place my sorrow or need second to theirs, X
  5. Lord Jesus, that I may recognize how much I need You, and rely on Your strength in the many difficulties and pit-falls of life, X
  6. Lord Jesus, that I may let go of those things that prevent me from growing closer to You, X
  7. Lord Jesus, that I may see Your cross as the great sign of Your love for me, as did our Spiritual Father, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, X
  8. Lord Jesus, that I may see my crosses as ways of loving You and dying to myself, X
  9. Lord Jesus, that I may learn to place my life in Your hands, and not fear seeming unimportant, useless, helpless…as You allowed Your lifeless body to be placed in the hands of Mary, X
  10. Lord Jesus, that I may always believe in Your closeness and loving presence, especially when You seem distant from me, X

Concluding Prayers

Lord Jesus, help me to walk with You each day of my life, even to Calvary. The sorrow and joy, the pain and healing, the failures and triumphs of my life are truly small deaths and resurrections that lead me closer to You. Give me the faith and trust I need to walk with You always.

Mary, Mother of our Redeemer and our most Blessed Mother, be with us through life’s journey. As you comforted Jesus on the road to Calvary by your silent and loving presence, as you held his lifeless body close to your immaculate heart, as you offered the sadness and suffering that only a mother can feel when she sees the suffering of her child, look upon me as you looked at Jesus. See His marred image in my frail nature; hold me close to your mother’s heart in my moments of temptation and sin; and pray for me that I may be for God what I was created to be a - LIVING IMAGE OF JESUS. Amen.


Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, loving Father and Spiritual Guide, in this most holy season of Lent, be with us. By a singular grace you were blessed to participate in the mystery of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through your ministry, God revealed the marvels of His mercy to numberless souls. Pray for us, that like you, and through your loving intercession we may remain one with Christ in his Passion so as to joyfully come with you to the glory of the Resurrection. Intercede for us with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is God for ever and ever. Amen.

website: www.PPPG.org