A Holy Victim

Padre Pio often prayed to suffer. For many, this will seem perverse; but before rendering a final judgment on Pio's wishes, the reader must understand why Pio would wish suffering upon himself. According to Padre Pio, his greatest goal in this life and the next was to imitate Christ. This meant that to become like Christ one also needed to suffer as he did. However, the ordinary human must not only suffer to share in Christ's suffering but to purge himself of sin and wickedness in order to be fully redeemed. Thus, one reason Pio prayed to suffer was to become more like Christ because he believed that in becoming like Christ perfect happiness could be achieved.

Yet Pio asked for even more suffering. Pio asked to be a "holy victim" so that he could prevent the suffering of others. For instance, when someone Pio knew...