I saw picture changing colours, it went all silvery & shiny, say women who claim they saw dead saint in Irish church
TWO women have reported seeing an apparition of the dead saint Padre Pio at an Irish church.
The women claimed to have seen the apparition inside St Saviour’s Church in Limerick city, last Friday, September 23.
The women are involved in the Pray, Hope & Don't Worry prayer group which organised a mass to mark the 54th anniversary of the Italian saint’s death.
Around 500 people attended the mass which is devoted to St Pio.
The two eye-witnesses, Mary Tynan, originally from Co Mayo and living in Limerick, and Nelly Cosgrave, from Ballybrown, Co Limerick, said the prayer group had erected an enlarged photograph inside St Saviour’s church.
They believe the photo shows a previous apparition of St Pio appearing during a mass in the church on the 50th anniversary of his death, in 2018.
Mary and Nelly were both at last Friday’s mass where attendees received blessings with a healing glove previously worn by St Pio.
The two women said a bright shape in the photograph changed colour and evolved into a discernible figure of St Pio dressed in a brown coloured habit.
Mary said: “I think myself and Nelly saw it around the same time, it was absolutely amazing, I saw the picture lighting up, illuminating, it was wavering, you could see the light flashing on it."
The photograph that was erected in the church was taken in the church in 2018 by Cindy Russo, an American Padre Pio.
Most read in The Sun
She added: “I saw the picture changing colours, it went all silvery and shiny, I was three seats back and it got so clear, this was gong on for a while."
“The floor (in the photo) became very clear, and Padre Pio appeared like a breeze, right down to the front of the picture, I could see his brown Capuchin habit, I could see that as clear as could be, and he was standing on his side.
“It was so real, it’s very hard to explain it to people, it was remarkable, I kept looking, I was shocked but what do you do?”
“I think, because the two of us saw it, it proves that it did happen, I’m not taken-in easily, I know it happened, and I’m still trying to work it out.”
'ILLUMINATED'
Nelly, 92, said she also became transfixed as the picture “became illuminated”.
She said: “I don't know what drew my attention to it, but it was as if you turned a light on the picture - it became illuminated and all of a sudden everything changed in the photo and I could see Padre Pio in his brown habit coming down standing on the altar.
“There was a blazing red colour and that lasted for about three to four minutes and gradually then, it just faded away and the picture went back to normal - it was most unusual.”
“What did I think? I was thinking is Padre Pio doing this for me, is this a sign for me to be more devoted to him or to talk about him, but it was really beautiful.”
“I gave Mary Tynan a nudge and I said look over at the picture, and she was in awe.”
'STRANGE' PRESENCE
Will Stokes, 49, from Southill, appears in the 2018 photograph taken by Ms Russo - when contacted, he said he did not see anything on either occasion but he admitted he felt a “strange” presence around his head.
Will, who is also linked to the prayer group, was standing beside a number of religious relics as a bright shape appears behind him on the altar at St Saviour’s Church at the 2018 anniversary mass.
While he said he was unaware of anything unusual happening behind him he felt like “someone blew on the back of my neck and the hair on my neck actually stood up”.
He said: “I turned around to check was there someone behind me and there wasn’t, then it happened a second time, I felt something brush on my neck, like a nice gesture, like a calming touch on my neck, and I thought no more of it.”
When he was shown the picture after the mass he “had to sit on the chair because of the shock and fright”.
He said: “I recognised it was Padre Pio, even though it was a silhouette, I recognised the shape, I was shocked.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Will said he felt “a presence” again during last Friday’s mass.
The group’s next devotion to St Pio will take place at St Saviour’s Church, Limerick Dominicans, from 2-4pm, October 8, and there after, on the second Saturday of every month at the same times.
