The Padre Pio Novena

The Padre Pio novena is really two devotions that go by one name. The first and most famous is the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — the very prayer St Pio of Pietrelcina recited every single day for all who asked him to pray for them. The second is the nine-day novena to St Padre Pio himself, said to beg his intercession, most often for healing and for causes that seem impossible, and traditionally prayed from 15 to 23 September, ending on his feast day. Below we give both in full, with the meditations, the variants the faithful ask for, and the life of the friar of the five wounds.

A note on this devotion: St Padre Pio (1887–1968) was canonized in 2002, and these novenas in their present form are modern. We give them in full because they are widely sought, entirely orthodox, and — in the case of the Efficacious Novena — built wholly out of Our Lord's own words in the Gospel. Those attached to the 1962 books may value knowing that the heart of this devotion is nothing new: it is the ancient love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which the Church has honoured for centuries.

The Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This is the prayer Padre Pio prayed daily on behalf of everyone who commended their needs to him. It is called efficacious not because it works like a charm, but because it is founded on three promises that came from the lips of Christ Himself — and, as St Pio said, God cannot fail His own word. The same three prayers are said each day for nine days, with your intention named at each of the three places marked.

O my Jesus, You have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold, I knock, I seek, and I ask for the grace of… (name your request)

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

O my Jesus, You have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in My name, He will give it to you." Behold, in Your name, I ask the Father for the grace of… (name your request)

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

O my Jesus, You have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." Encouraged by Your infallible words, I now ask for the grace of… (name your request)

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

Then the novena is sealed each day with this closing prayer:

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of You, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your tender Mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen, and add: St Joseph, foster-father of Jesus, pray for us.

That is the whole of it. The three Gospel promises — from Matthew 7:7, John 16:23, and Matthew 24:35 — are the engine of the novena; the rest is trust. This is why so many search for the padre pio sacred heart novena, the efficacious novena to the sacred heart of jesus, and padre pio's efficacious novena — they are all one and the same prayer.

The nine-day novena to St Padre Pio

The second Padre Pio novena does not ask his prayers to the Sacred Heart, but asks his own intercession as a canonized saint of God. This is the novena most people mean by novena to St Padre Pio or novena to Padre Pio for healing. It is prayed on each of nine days, and the faithful traditionally begin it on 15 September so that the ninth day falls on his feast, 23 September. Each day, pray this Prayer to Obtain Grace:

God, Who gave St Pio of Pietrelcina, Capuchin priest, the great privilege of participating in a very special way in the Passion of Your Son, grant me, through his intercession, the grace of… (name your request); and above all grant me the grace of living in conformity with the death of Jesus, to arrive at the glory of the Resurrection.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

St Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us.

Many keep a distinct intention for each of the nine days, in imitation of the causes closest to Padre Pio's own heart. A traditional set runs:

• Day 1 — for the grace to accept our sufferings and unite them to the Cross, as he bore the five wounds for fifty years.
• Day 2 — for strength against temptation and the assaults of the enemy, whom he fought all his life.
• Day 3 — for a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he called upon in every trial.
• Day 4 — for a childlike love of our Guardian Angel, whom Padre Pio sent as his messenger.
• Day 5 — for the holy souls in Purgatory, for whom he offered Mass and penance without ceasing.
• Day 6 — for the healing of the sick in body and soul, that this house of prayer may be, as he wished, a house of consolation.
• Day 7 — for the conversion of sinners, whom he drew back to God for hours in the confessional.
• Day 8 — for holy priests and religious, and for vocations to the priesthood he loved.
• Day 9 — for the particular grace of this novena, and for the gift of a holy death in the friendship of Christ.

Close each day with the consecration St Pio's clients love: O glorious St Pio of Pietrelcina, who art a saint and my friend, comforter of my soul and help of this sinner — to thee I consecrate myself and my loved ones. Then a final Glory Be. If the whole idea of nine days of prayer is new to you, our guide to what is a novena explains where the custom comes from and why the number nine.

The Padre Pio novena for healing

Of every favour brought to Padre Pio, healing is the most common — which is why padre pio novena for healing, padre pio healing novena, and novena to padre pio for the sick are searched so often. It is fitting: in his lifetime the friar of San Giovanni Rotondo was surrounded by the sick, built a great "Home for the Relief of Suffering" beside his friary, and left behind an unbroken stream of reported cures. To pray a Padre Pio healing novena, use either form above — the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart is especially apt, since it lays your need on the Heart "for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted" — and name the sickness plainly, always adding: if it be for the good of the soul. Padre Pio never promised that the cross would be lifted; he promised that grace would be given to carry it. For a wider circle of intercessors in sickness, see the novena to Our Lady of Good Health.

The Padre Pio novena for impossible favours

Because his life was itself a chain of wonders — the stigmata, bilocation, the reading of hearts in the confessional — St Pio is invoked with great confidence in desperate and hopeless affairs. There is no separate prayer for this; you simply bring the impossible cause to the same novena, naming it where the text says the grace of… When a case is truly hopeless the Church sends us to more than one friend in heaven, and many join the Padre Pio novena to the patron saint of hopeless cases, St Jude, and to the novena to the Sacred Heart itself.

A short version, and the Padre Pio chaplet

Those who want the shortest true form of the devotion can pray the single line St Pio repeated more than any other: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You," with the intention named — the refrain that runs through the whole Efficacious Novena. There is also a Padre Pio chaplet in circulation, a set of beads on which this Efficacious Novena is prayed; it is a private aid to memory, not an approved chaplet of the Church in the way the Sacred Heart chaplet or the Five Wounds chaplet are, but it carries the same words we have given above. If you are unsure how a chaplet differs from a novena, see what is a chaplet.

How to pray the Padre Pio novena

A novena is measured by the heart, not the clock. Keep these few things and it will be prayed well:

• Pick your nine days. For the novena to St Padre Pio, begin on 15 September so the last day lands on his feast, 23 September. The Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart may be begun on any nine consecutive days, for any need — the First Fridays of the month are a fitting time, being themselves a devotion to the Sacred Heart (see our guide to the First Fridays).
• Name one intention and keep to it through all nine days.
• Pray at a fixed hour each day, without hurry, and say the whole text — do not clip it.
• Add a Mass or Communion where you can; Padre Pio held the Mass to be the heart of everything.
• Ask in surrender. End as he did: Thy will be done. The novena that is answered is the one prayed by a soul resigned to God's wisdom.

Who is St Padre Pio?

Francesco Forgione was born on 25 May 1887 at Pietrelcina, a poor farming town in southern Italy, to devout parents who prayed the Rosary daily. Drawn to the friars from childhood, he entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin at fifteen, taking the name Fra Pio, and was ordained a priest in 1910. From his youth he was marked by an intense interior life, by long sickness that no physician could explain, and by a hidden warfare with the powers of darkness that he never spoke of lightly.

On 20 September 1918, while praying before a crucifix in the friary church of San Giovanni Rotondo, he received the stigmata — the five wounds of the crucified Christ, in his hands, feet, and side — which remained open, bleeding, and medically inexplicable for fifty years, until they closed shortly before his death. He is the first priest known to have borne them. Around him gathered reports of the other gifts God gives His friends: the reading of souls in the confessional, where he heard confessions for ten and twelve hours a day; bilocation, being seen in two places at once; the fragrance of sanctity; and countless healings. He bore, too, the harder cross of suspicion: for years Rome restricted his ministry while it examined him, and he obeyed in silence, a mark of the true saint.

His whole life was poured into two channels: the confessional, where he laboured for the conversion of sinners, and the altar, where his Mass could last for hours and moved those present to tears. Out of love for the sick he founded the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza — the "Home for the Relief of Suffering" — a great hospital that still stands beside his friary. He died on 23 September 1968, aged 81, with the names of Jesus and Mary on his lips. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and canonized on 16 June 2002. He is invoked as a patron of the sick, of civil-defence volunteers, of adolescents, and of those in any grave or hopeless trouble. His feast is kept on 23 September, the day of his death.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you pray the Padre Pio novena?

Choose one of nine consecutive days and one intention. Each day, pray the full novena text — for the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart, the three "O my Jesus" prayers with their Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the refrain "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You," followed by the closing prayer and the Hail, Holy Queen. Name your request each day and add a Mass or Communion where you can. Keep the same intention through all nine days and end in surrender to God's will.

When does the Padre Pio novena start?

The novena to St Padre Pio traditionally begins on 15 September and ends on his feast day, 23 September, so that the ninth day coincides with the feast. The Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, however, may be begun on any nine consecutive days you choose, whenever a need arises.

What is the difference between the two Padre Pio novenas?

There are two. The Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the prayer Padre Pio himself prayed every day for others; it is addressed to Jesus and built on His three Gospel promises. The novena to St Padre Pio is addressed to the saint, asking his intercession before God. Both are prayed over nine days; the first is the more famous, and the one usually meant by "the efficacious novena."

Why is it called the "efficacious" novena?

Because it rests entirely on the words of Our Lord Himself — "ask and you will receive," "if you ask anything of the Father in My name, He will give it," and "heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." Padre Pio taught that God cannot be untrue to His own promise. The novena is efficacious not as a magic formula but as an act of faith in the fidelity of Christ; the grace given is always the one that is truly best for the soul.

Is there a printable PDF of the 9-day novena to Padre Pio?

The complete text is given in full above — the three "O my Jesus" prayers, the closing prayer, and the Hail, Holy Queen for the Efficacious Novena; and the Prayer to Obtain Grace with the nine daily intentions for the novena to St Padre Pio. You may copy either to keep beside you for the nine days. The Iter Fidei app also carries the devotion with day-by-day reminders and audio, so it can be prayed from a phone without a printed sheet.

Can I pray the Padre Pio novena for healing or for someone who is sick?

Yes. Healing is the favour most often brought to St Pio, who spent his life among the sick and founded a hospital for their relief. Pray either form of the novena and name the illness plainly, asking the cure — but ask it "if it be for the good of the soul," as he always did. Padre Pio did not promise that every cross would be lifted, but that grace would be given to bear it.

Who is St Padre Pio the patron saint of?

St Pio of Pietrelcina is invoked as a patron of the sick and of those who care for them, of adolescents, of civil-defence volunteers, and of people in grave, desperate, or seemingly hopeless situations. Above all he is the patron of confession and of trust in God's mercy, drawn from his fifty years of bearing the wounds of Christ and his endless hours in the confessional.

Pray the Padre Pio novena with day-by-day reminders and audio in the Iter Fidei app. Download it here.

Sources. Holy Scripture (Matthew 7:7; John 16:23; Matthew 24:35); the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as prayed daily by St Pio of Pietrelcina; the traditional novena and Prayer to Obtain Grace of St Pio of Pietrelcina; the Hail, Holy Queen; the life of St Pio (1887–1968), beatified 1999 and canonized by Pope John Paul II, 16 June 2002; the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Church's tradition.