Padre Pio and You by Mary O’Regan. Sophia Institute Press (Manchester, NH, 2025). 400 pp., paperback. $24.95.
Once I had a vivid dream of Padre Pio. I was sitting outside with my Mother and one of my brothers in Italy at a cafe drinking cappuccino. My Mother decided to go and pray in a nearby chapel, while my brother and I continued chatting. Suddenly, she ran out and said: “Padre Pio is here!” and motioned for us to come quickly. We ran to the chapel and were just in time for him to offer Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. As he held our Eucharistic Lord high, I was so moved that I fell prostrate.
And then, I woke up.
When my mother and I went to his hometown of Pietrelcina years later, I found a drawing of him that looked very similar to the image of him in my dream, and it is now hanging on a wall in my bedroom.
Many times in my life, St. Padre Pio (1887–1968) has interceded for me as a loving spiritual father to encourage me on the path to holiness. In her new book Padre Pio and Me by Mary O’Regan, St. Pio does that for each soul, through the powerful example of his life of sanctity and stories of his spiritual paternity.
Keith Berube Ph.D. cand., author of Mary, the Beloved; Mary: The Rosary, the Relationship, and Dragons; and A Love Letter to Mary, shared “Mary O’Regan’s book Padre Pio and You is a rare treat. It is a new portrait of St. Padre Pio, something like you’ve never seen before. The reader steps into his world and encounters him personally, in depth, from the beginning of his life to the end. To those who don’t know him well, Padre Pio will become a true friend, and to those who do, a still better friend. In every chapter, you’ll feel that he cares about you personally, and the advice he gives is priceless; this is a book to go back to again and again—each time a warm meeting with a best friend. Whether you know Padre Pio well or know nothing about him, this book is a gem.”
This book incorporates letters from St. Pio to his directees, advice on various aspects of spirituality, and little-known information about his life and family. Readers will encounter his mystical gifts from bilocation to the stigmata. They will learn about how he was attacked by the enemy and his powerful intercession.
Most significantly, they will also find the five practices that he instructed his spiritual children to do to help them on the road to salvation. Through his witness and his writings, they will learn about the importance of prayer, frequent Confession, Marian devotion, living virtuously, and much more.
In the words of Tom Leopold, TV comedy writer and Catholic convert, “This extraordinary work brings you into the presence of St. Padre Pio himself. Through high artistry and courage, O’Regan shares her deep and personal relationship with the saint in a way that leaves readers wishing that they, too, were one of his ‘adopted children.’”
Members of the media may send an email to Sophia Institute Press’ Director of Publicity, Sarah Lemieux at slemieux@SophiaInstitute.com to receive a physical or digital copy of Padre Pio and You and/or to schedule an interview with Mary O’Regan.
