Trad West Profile picture
Aug 12 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
You've probably heard about many of St. Padre Pio's miracles.

Miraculous healings, the stigmata, speaking to angels

But did you know St. Padre Pio appeard to a Cardinal tortured by communists in prison while never leaving his monestary?

Padre Pio & the communist prison - a 🧵 Image
Image
Venerable Cardinal József Mindszenty was one of the greatest Catholic heroes of the 20th century.

He defied the Communists in Hungary, endured years of torture, and never betrayed the Faith. Image
Venerable Cardinal József Mindszenty was imprisoned, drugged, and tortured by Marxists for defending Christ’s Church.

Mindszenty was arrested in 1948, falsely accused of plotting to crown Archduke Otto von Habsburg, launch WWIII, and steal Hungary’s crown jewels.

Yes, that’s how absurd Communist lies were.Image
He endured 8 years in prison and house arrest.
His torturers injected drugs until he signed false “confessions” under duress.

When freedom fighters liberated him during the 1956 uprising, he took asylum in the US Embassy in Budapest, for 15 years. Image
His mere presence terrified the regime.
The Vatican, under Paul VI, eventually pressured him to resign in 1973.

Returning to Rome, he sighed: “Ego debuissem in Hungaria mori.” (I should have died in Hungary.) Image
Now, the miracle.

While locked away, his desire to celebrate Mass grew unbearable.

One morning, a mysterious friar appeared in his cell bringing everything needed for Mass.

That friar? Padre Pio. Image
Mindszenty celebrated Mass in his dungeon.
Padre Pio served as acolyte.
They spoke.

And then, as suddenly as he appeared, the Capuchin vanished, taking everything he had brought with him. Image
This was bilocation, a rare mystical gift allowing someone to be in two places at once.

Padre Pio’s bilocations are well-attested by witnesses all over the world.

This one was confirmed years later by one of his close friends, Angelo Battisti. Image
Image
When asked if the Cardinal had recognized him, Padre Pio bristled: “Well, we met and talked, so you think he wouldn’t have recognized me?”

Then, with sadness, he said of Mindszenty: “The devil is ugly, but they had left him uglier than the devil.” Image
Padre Pio urged: “Remember to pray for this great confessor of the Faith, who suffered so much for the Church.”

Mindszenty died in exile in Vienna in 1975. His cause for canonization is underway.

May he one day be raised to the altars. Image
Image
May we have the same courage as Venerable József Mindszenty in the face of our enemies.

And may we aspire to be living saints as Padre Pio!

St. Padre Pio, Venerable József Mindszenty, pray for us! Image
Image
The Catholic Men's Podcast covers this in an amazing video:

Check them out! Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Trad West

Trad West Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @trad_west_

Aug 15
André Frossard, the atheist journalist who found God in 2 minutes.

A son of one of the founders of the French Communist Party. Raised without faith.
Committed atheist.

Until one day in 1969, that's when everything changed -a 🧵✝️ Image
Image
He was walking the streets of Paris with a friend.

His friend stopped and said: “I need to go inside here for a moment.”

It was a small Catholic chapel.
Frossard wasn’t interested, but he was curious.

He stepped inside. Image
The chapel was silent, dimly lit.

At the center: the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, exposed on the altar.
Frossard didn’t know what it was.

To him, it was just a strange golden vessel. Image
Read 8 tweets
Aug 15
In 1912, Alexis Carrel won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

He was a brilliant doctor, and an outspoken skeptic.
No miracles, no supernatural. He didn't believe in God, let alone the Catholic Church.

Until one trip to Lourdes changed everything.

The scientist who converted - a 🧵 Image
Image
From the time of Blessed Mary’s first apparition to Bernadette Soubirous, the water from the Lourdes Grotto has been a source of miraculous healing both for those who have visited the Grotto and even for those who used the water in remote places.

Since the time of Bernadette, over 7,000 miraculous cures have been reported to the Lourdes Medical Bureau by pilgrims who have visited Lourdes (this does not include miracles that have taken place outside of Lourdes).

There were so many purported cures associated with the water and Grotto of Lourdes that the Catholic Church set up the Lourdes Medical Bureau to be constituted by and under the leadership of physicians and scientists alone.Image
Image
In 1902, a physician friend of Dr. Carrel invited him to help take care of sick patients transported on a train from Lyons to Lourdes.

Though Carrel was born Catholic, he was at that time an agnostic who did not believe in miracles.

Nevertheless, he consented to help out, both because of friendship and an interest in what natural causes might be allowing such fast healings as those claimed at Lourdes.Image
Read 13 tweets
Aug 15
Today, the Church celebrates one of the greatest mysteries in salvation history: the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.

A dogma of faith, a prophecy fulfilled, and the promise of our own resurrection.

The Assumption of Our Lady - a 🧵✝️ Image
Image
The Assumption is not merely a pious legend.
It is Dogma, solemnly defined by Pope Pius XII in Munificentissimus Deus (1950):

“The Immaculate Mother of God… having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” Image
Image
While the event is not narrated explicitly, it is deeply rooted in the Word of God.

Psalm 45,10–11 (Messianic and Marian prophecy):
“At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir" Image
Read 10 tweets
Aug 14
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

This is what Christ told the apostles

Aand after the Pentecost, they would go forth to the ends of the Earth

Here’s where each Apostle went - a 🧵 Image
1) Saint Peter, leader of the Apostles, first Pope.

Preached in Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome and across Asia Minor.

Finally, in Rome, he was crucified upside-down under Nero (c. 64 AD), saying he was unworthy to die like Christ. Image
Image
2) Saint Andrew, brother of Peter, the “First-Called.” Preached in Asia Minor, Thrace, and along the Black Sea coast, including Scythia (modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia)

Martyred on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece, joyfully proclaiming the Cross of Christ. Image
Read 14 tweets
Aug 14
🇯🇵 The Catholic Samurais of Japan - a ✝️ Image
Image
When we think of samurai, the image that comes to mind is of warriors following the Bushidō (the code of honor). But few know that, in feudal Japan, there were samurai who embraced Catholicism and lived (and died) for Christ. Image
Everything began in the 16th century, with the arrival of the Jesuit missionaries in Japan, led by São Francisco Xavier in 1549. Feudal Japan, divided into classes and governed by warlords (daimyos), was a fertile ground for Christianity, especially among the samurai. Image
Read 14 tweets
Aug 14
When the Titanic began to sink, a priest refused a lifeboat.

He stayed on deck, hearing confessions until the very last second.

Who was Fr. Thomas Byles, and what did he say before vanishing beneath the waves?

The Last Mass on the Titanic – a🧵✝️ Image
Image
Fr. Thomas Byles was an English Catholic priest, bound for New York to celebrate his brother’s wedding.

Born in Yorkshire the oldest of seven children, Thomas was the son of a Congregationalist minister. At Oxford while studying theology, he converted to the Church of England.

Later, like his younger brother William, he became a Roman Catholic and received the name Thomas.

When William invited his brother to come to New York City to officiate at his wedding 1912, Father Thomas planned to sail there.

His parishioners, who loved and appreciated him, helped pay for his trip with the White Star Line. At the last minute that trip was cancelled, and he was transferred to a new ship, the RMS Titanic.

It was April 10, 1912, when he boarded the RMS Titanic, carrying his breviary, his rosary and his personal belongingsImage
On the morning of Divine Mercy Sunday (the week after Easter), Father Thomas celebrated Mass for the second-class passengers and then the third-class passengers.

The readings were about resurrection. Ironically, Father’s sermon was about spiritual shipwreck in times of temptation.

He said that prayer and the sacraments were like a spiritual lifeboat.Image
Image
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(