Saint Mary's of the Angels Church

The church of Saint Mary’s of the Angels, today the Mother Church of Pietrelcina, is situated near the Saint Annunciation square (Piazza Santissima Annuziata).
The Madonna of the Libera, whom Padre Pio affectionately called “Our small Madonna,” is venerated here.

This is where he was ordained as a deacon in 1909 and had administered his first Baptism to a child that would one day become a Redemptorist priest.

On the eve of the Assumption of the 14th of August 1910, four days after being ordained a priest, Padre Pio celebrated his first Mass. A few days later he wrote to Father Benedetto of San Marco in Lamis saying, “For a few days I have been a little sick. Maybe the principal cause of this was the strong emotion to which my spirit was subject during this time. My heart overflows with joy, and I feel so much stronger now and am able to face whatever afflictions that may be sent to me if this gives pleasure to Jesus.”

In this church, Padre Pio passed interminable moments of prayer and intimacy with God, ecstasies at the foot of the altar, and the mystical phenomenon of the fusion of hearts that he described in his letters: “The heart of Jesus and mine permit me to use this expression. We were two hearts that beat as one. My heart disappeared, like a drop of water that vanishes in the sea.” And again, “I feel myself burning without fire. A million flames consume me. I feel like I am continuously dying although still alive.” Padre Pio celebrated Masses in this church that were “too long” and “incomprehensibly mysterious” such that the Father Guardian instructed the parish priest to remind Padre Pio of this fact so that, being subject to the vow of saintly obedience, he would conform promptly.