Several articles have appeared recently in English publications about Padre Pio, the Italian Franciscan friar who for the last thirty-four years has borne ‘stigmata’ in hands and feet and side, resembling the traditional wounds of our Lord on the Cross.

Stigmata—in these days the word itself is apt to cause some raising of scientific eyebrows; it conjures up pictures of hysterical and neurotic girls inflicting wounds on themselves so as to be thought holy. Pious folk are too often over-credulous; and another instance, also in a person living today, has been under much discussion. It is necessary, therefore, to get at the facts.

Others have written of Padre Pio's life in its setting, of his extraordinary influence over the crowds who flock to S. Giovanni Rotondo to see him, of his apostolate of the confessional, of the village, almost, that has sprung up round his monastery, and the big modern hospital, now almost completed, that has been built through his inspiration and encouragement.