Padre Pio’s heart relic due

The heart relic of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina will be in the country from October 6 to 26, 2018.

“There are only three countries, all in American continent, that the heart of Padre Pio has ever been to, the United States (10 days), Paraguay (8 days) and Argentina (5 days). The Philippines, now preparing for its 500th Christianization in 2021, will have the distinction of having the longest time this heart relic would stay,” Rev. Fr. Joselin Gonda, Rector of the National Shrine of St. Padre Pio, in Batangas, said in a press briefing Wednesday in Manila.

The Luzon leg (from October 8-10) will be hosted by the Archdiocese of Manila, the Visayas leg (from October 1113), by the Archdiocese of Cebu, and the Mindanao leg (from October 14-16), by the Archdiocese of Davao.

It will go back to Batangas in the morning of October 17, where a concelebrated Mass will be held at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Lipa City.

After the Mass, it will proceed to the Capuchin Monastery in Barangay San Sebastian for the exclusive veneration of the Capuchins of the Philippines.

Gonda also considers the visit as a “time of grace” for the Filipinos.

This, he said especially for the devotees of Padre Pio, who are now “walloping” in near hopelessness during these uncertain times of our nation’s history.