A woman who had an abortion met Padre Pio. She said, “I never knew abortion was a sin.” He replied: “What do you mean, you didn’t know that was a sin? That’s killing… it’s a sin, a great sin.”

Padre Pio’s devotion to the Virgin Mary was rooted in the truth that Jesus specifically wills such devotion. Jesuschose to come to earth through Mary. Similarly, Jesus chooses that we come to Him through her; for her soul magnifies the Lord. As Scripture teaches:

“And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord: And my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me.” (Lk 1:46-49)

One night Padre Pio was sitting alone in a room absorbed in prayer when an old man entered and sat next to him. “I looked at him but never thought of how he managed to get in the friary at that hour. I asked him: ‘Who are you? What do you want?’" The man answered: "Padre Pio, I am Pietro di Mauro. I died in this friary on September 18, 1908, I'm still in Purgatory, and I need a Mass to free my soul from it. God has given me permission to come to you and ask for your prayers." After I had listened to his story, I said: "You can rest assured that I will celebrate Mass tomorrow for your liberation.”

One time someone asked Padre Pio how Purgatory could be avoided. He replied, “By accepting everything from God’s hand; offering everything up to Him with love and thanksgiving will enable
us to pass from our deathbed to paradise.”