Pietrelcina

"Where everything happened"

The small village in the Campania region was founded with the name of Preta Pulcina, in contrast with Preta Maiore, on the other side of the Tammaro, a right-hand tributary of the Calore river. It was the feud of Bartolomeo Camerario (1497 - 1564), a theologian and jurisconsult.

Its current official name, Pietrelcina, comes from a castle which was erected on "solid large boulders", surrounded by walls in its upper portion, with two doors, one to the north and the other to the south. Even after years and years of absence, Padre Pio would still remember "stone after stone" in Pietrelcina. "It is entirely in my heart", he wrote on December 22nd 1926 to his brother Michele. So vividly did he remember and love his homeland and its people, that he could embody and experience them in every day's life. "The Holy Family" is the title given to the Capuchin church, a title that was chosen by Padre Pio himself.

Around the year 1909, when the young Capuchin was still Brother Pio, during one of his usual strolls he reached the area where the convent stands today. The story is told by a seminarist, an eyewitness: "While we were all walking together, the archpriest made us stop, inviting us to be quiet and to listen to what Forgione (i.e. Brother Pio) said he could hear. He could hear a choir of angels singing and bells chiming from somewhere not far from where he was standing and he reached out and pointed to the empty area on the road".

Work on the convent began with a simple question, followed by an even simpler answer.
Several inhabitants of Pietrelcina requested the American lady Maria Pyle, converted and retired to San Giovanni Rotondo, to build a convent for the Capuchin friars in their town. Construction work started in 1926 and was completed after over twenty years of disputes and adversities.

www.cappuccinipietrelcina.it

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