This
comprises the old church and the new basilica, both
of which are dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie.
The new basilica was the work of the architect Giuseppe
Gentile from Boiano (Campobasso).
2 July 1956: the building work was commenced;
10 July 1959: the basilica was consecrated by Monsignor
Paolo Carta, bishop of Foggia;
2 July 1959: the painting of Santa Maria delle Grazie
was unveiled by Cardinal Federico Tedeschini.
The basilica has a nave and two aisles. The apse
is dominated by a large mosaic featuring the Madonna
delle Grazie, a work carried out by Professor Bedini
at the Vatican school of mosaics.
The eight mosaics that decorate the altars in the
aisles were also made at the Vatican school, following
designs by Professor Antonio Achilli and Padre Ugolino
from Belluno (the mosaic of the Madonna del Rosario).
The altar where Padre Pio said Mass from 1959 to
the day of his death stands in the middle of the
presbytery.
Padre Pio's Spirituality
Spiritual
school
"Let
us always trust in God, and may our lively faith and the comfort of Christian
hope assist us in this. We must pray continually, moreover, that peace may soon
smile on the nations. We should turn our thoughts to heaven, our true homeland,
of which our earthly country is but a dim image, and make every effort with the
divine assistance to preserve at all times, amidst happy or sad events, the cheerful
calm that becomes the true followers of the fair Nazarene" (Epist. I,
p. 596)
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Minor Capuchin Friars of San Giovanni Rotondo
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