Today marks the close of a jubilee year dedicated to Padre Pio, now formally known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, the great 20th century Capuchin mystic, stigmatic and healer. The jubilee began last July 28, which marked the 100th anniversary of his arrival in San Giovanni Rotondo, the small town in the Italian province of Foggia where he would spend the rest of life, eventually founding not only a major hospital but a spiritual empire.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, is heading to San Giovanni Rotondo for the occasion to preside over two events - a memorial Mass and the dedication of a new “Place of Memory,” intended to keep the saint’s legacy alive.