Praying with Padre Pio (Companions for the Journey)
Theme: "The holy gift of prayer is placed in the right hand of the  Savior," said Padre Pio. "And in the measure in which you will be empty of  yourself . . . and will keep rooting yourself in holy humility, the Lord  will continue to communicate himself to your heart."1Opening Prayer: Lord, keep my heart and soul always communicating with you,  even when my mind and body must focus on my duties. Amen.About Pio    Padre Pio continually communicated with God. His prayer included daily  Mass, the rosary, meditation on the passion of Christ, and contemplation,  during which he silently adored God. "[Prayer is the] true ladder which  unites the earth to the heavens," said Pio. "We will discover that  humility, contrition, and prayer make the distance between mankind and God  disappear and act in such a way that God descends to mankind and mankind  ascends to God, so that they end up understanding, loving, and possessing  one another."2Padre Pio's life of prayer began in early childhood. As a child, he  prayed whenever he could, whether kneeling at home on the stone floor, at  church before the tabernacle, or with his family during their daily rosary.  As Pio grew closer to God, he looked for opportunities to pray more and  more. In the middle of trials and suffering of any kind, Pio found his  comfort in prayer.A close friend of Padre Pio's, Fr. Agostino Daniele of San Marco in  Lamis, wrote in his diary in February 1944, twentyfour years before Pio's  death, "The thought of God is habitual in him. He lives his interior life  like the saints did. Even when he talks with [us], we are aware of the fact  that his spirit is lifted towards God."