Cures It sounds as if it were a cliché to say that the number of people who came to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina to ask his prayers for cures are legendary. But it is true, simply and marvelously true through the abundant generosity of God. Whenever a cure was evident the Saint would say to the person, "God has granted you this grace, address your thanks to him and not to me!" Here but a few of the known cases. Maria Panisi had tuberculosis so advanced that several doctors told her that she was incurable and near death; the year was 1932. Thirty years later she was still alive. Herf ather who was from Pietrelcina brought her to San Giovanni. As soon as Padre Pio saw her, he gently touched her shoulder and said that she was not sick and "lungs of steel." She was healthy as she could be. Countess Baiocci of Gavina who resided in Rome was suffering from an unknown malady. Many doctors had been consulted. At last Dr. Giorgio Festa suggested she should go to Padre Pio in San Giovanni, which she did. She was no sooner there then she no longer was ill. A young woman from Bologna had broken a bone in such manner that it did not heal right, the fracture had never closed. She went to the Padre and her bone fused completely on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. A chaplain serving in a hospital that regularly received 37,000 patients within a two-year period had lost only 37 of its patients. He considered this astounding fact as attributable to another, that Padre Pio had blessed a crucifix which the chaplain used to bless the wounded. He had the crucifix with him when he served aboard two ships, both of which were torpedoed: he survived both sinkings. A child with meningitis suffered from spasmodic attacks and was sent home as incurable. Padre Pio prayed for him and he was healed. In Ragusa a baby had a convulsive cough. His parents were of great faith and asked the intercession of the Padre. After his prayers the infant was cured; the physician had no other explanation other than this. A Maltese boy was seized with a sudden raging fever, called Mediterranean fever. It was of such a nature that his leg was affected to the point of deformation. His mother wired Padre Pio for prayers. She received and answer saying that Padre Pio was praying for her son. When the doctors came for the next visit the leg seemed improved and soon there was no sign of any fever. At San Felice a Cancello, Naples, a young woman, Nicoletta Mazzone, was dying of a complication of bronchial disease and could no longer speak. Her father went to San Giovanni Rotondo to ask for a cure. Padre Pio smiled and said: "Go back home and be glad, for the Madonna delle Grazie will cure your child." He did not believe the friar, but begged him once more; this time Padre Pio answered without smiling: "Man of little faith! I repeat to you, go home and rejoice, for the Madonna delle Grazie will cure her!" When he did so his wife and sister met him with the news that the girl could now speak and was asking for food; she continued to grow better until the illness was completely gone. A woman from Pesaro brought her deaf and dumb child to Padre Pio, who was instantly healed. With heart-filled gratitude the woman took a gold chain from her daughter's neck, the one thing of value they possessed as they were of poor working status, and gave it to Padre Pio for the Virgin. When she arrived home she told what had happened to her husband who became intensely angry at the offering she had made, insisting she should have given some other article rather than the gift he himself had made to his daughter. The next morning they found the chain on the bed table. The Reverend Emilio Secchi, parish priest of Avandrace, Cagliari, told Father Carty the following story in 1947: the director of a Girl's Protective Association had typhoid and was taken to the local hospital for infectious diseases. It was impossible for a letter to travel from Avandrace to San Giovanni Rotondo in less than several days, so the father of the patient sent a telegram to Padre Pio, asking for the speedy recovery of his daughter, who needed was needed in her duties at the parish, as there was no one who was able to take over for her. The hospital would only keep her for a single day as they expected her to die; but she recovered. Padre Pio had asked God for a full restoration of her health. The priest told Father Carty that he attributed her cure to the intercession of Padre Pio.  Wanda Sari of Treviso who was suffering from a serious malady and in great pain. The doctors told her she would be dead within hours; a friend showed her a photograph of Padre Pio; she begged him in her heart with all her heart for a cure, and suddenly her pains disappeared. She later traveled to San Giovanni Rotondo to thank him. At the time of the cure she was emaciated to the point of bones. Father Carty had seen the child afterwards and she was robust with an angelic expression. A blind man who lived near the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, known as Pietruccio had lost his sight when he was fourteen; the same as his father earlier. He went to Padre Pio to ask his help but was told by the good Father that: "Many people sin with their eyes and are lost." That is, the Padre was telling him he was better off blind even if he had not realized it. Pietruccio showed his heroic virtue and answered "I only want my sight if it is good for my soul!" Father Carty believed that Padre Pio was giving a sign of the man's salvation for the Saint had been instrumental in the cure of other cases of blindness. The son of Count Marzotta of Florence, a child of eight, had advanced myopia bordering on blindness. His parents took him to Padre Pio who asked them to pray very hard, at the same time promising to pray with them. They remained several days at San Giovanni, and by the time they had returned to Florence they noticed a boy child was completely cured, as he did not even need to wear glasses. In 1947 Gemma Di Giorgi, who was born without pupils, lived in Ribera in Sicily. There was no medical hope of her ever seeing. While her parents accepted this diagnosis, her grandmother did not. She made the long journey to San Giovanni Rotondo with the little girl, full of faith in the powers of Padre Pio. They were among the crowd of the faithful attending his Mass when at the end while the silence was at its peak everyone heard a voice calling: "Gemma, come here!" The Grandmother pushed her way up to the altar with the child and knelt down before the Saint whom they had come so far to see. He smiled at Gemma and told her that she must make her first Communion. He heard her Confession and then stroked her eyes with his hand. She received Holy Communion by herself and when afterwards her grandmother asked her if she had asked for any favor from Padre Pio the little girl answered: "No, Little Grandmother, I forgot!" Padre Pio saw them later and said: "May the Madonna bless you Gemma. Be a good girl!" At this moment the child gave a frantic cry, she could see a permanent cure although her eyes still had no pupils! She has been examined by many doctors who have testified to the case and are able to offer no scientific explanation. Padre Pio would often tell people to have an operation that they had been told by doctors was dangerous or had a doubtful outcome. One such person was Grazia Siena also born totally blind. She was considered incurable---no doctor was willing to operate. She grew up in total darkness but never gave up hope of being somehow cured. She was a frequent visitor to Monte Gargano and well known to Padre Pio. One day he said to her that ought to have the  operation. Her parents were against this because of the risk; she was They had no money to pay for such surgery. But a benefactor came forward with not only the money that was needed but the energy and initiative to take her to Bari to see an eye specialist. He was not encouraging and was on the verge of refusing, but the woman's determination to follow Padre Pio's advice made him relent. "I shall try," he said, "but only a miracle can give you your sight." When the bandages were removed Grazia could see. Father Carty tells us: "It is impossible in this case to evaluate the power of Padre Pio's prayer in comparison with the skill of the surgeon. "We can only see in all this the manifestation of the will of God and the combined uses to which he can bring His faithful servants. Maria Giuliano was diagnosed as having an epithelioma on the tongue at the hospital of S. Maria Novella at Florence, in 1919, and was scheduled for surgery within two days. The pain was so great that she was barely able to eat. A priest gave her an image of Padre Pio before she went to the hospital telling her to make a triduum in honor of the Holy Trinity invoking Padre Pio's intercession for a cure. She did. She went to the dentist who was to remove a number of teeth before the operation could take place. He was surprised to find her tongue completely healed, and immediately called in Doctor Marchetti, who as soon as he had seen her dismissed her from the hospital, declaring her completely cured. At the beginning 1925, Signora Preziosi Paolina, the mother of five, developed first bronchitis which then turned into pneumonia. The doctors held no hope, so her coffin was prepared along with her shroud. Padre Pio's intercession was requested. He predicted her cure would take place during the ringing of the Easter bells. It was then Passion week. During the night of Good Friday she went into a coma. Saturday morning Padre Pio said his Mass and went into ecstasy during the Gloria. At the ringing of the bells, Signora Preziosi got up, her fever completely gone. There are cases after cases such as these, all within the lifetime of the Saint, but I think these suffice to show the power of faith, of those who asked for Padre Pio's help, and his. For as he himself said, "It is God Who heals." Sources used: Padre Pio, the Stigmatist, Fr. Charles M. Carty and Who is Padre Pio?, RADIO REPLIES PRESS, INC. 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