McGrath Institute Blog

St. Thérèse is affectionately known the world over as “The Little Flower,” and her autobiography, Story of a Soul, has taught “millions of souls” (Pius XII) what has become known as her “Little Way.” This Little Way has been admired and embraced by so many because it allows the ordinary things of daily life to become the extraordinary deeds of love that can lead to sainthood.

In celebration of her feast day, we contemplate her Little Way from three different angles.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, a man better known simply as Padre Pio (1887–1968). Even before his death, Padre Pio was a source of fascination for many people, and stories of his remarkable holiness and supernatural gifts abound, some of which are truly astonishing, some of which border on outlandish, but all of which inspire us to take a closer look at this humble Capuchin friar, who was so intimately united with Christ in his heart, so closely conformed to Christ in his soul, that even his own body was also conformed to Christ, marked with the wounds of Christ’s Crucifixion.