History

THE STORY OF OUR FOUNDER

The Saint Pio Foundation was founded by Luciano Lamonarca, as he and his wife Valentina received what is considered a miracle: the birth of their son Sebastian. 

It is often believed, and erroneously so, that miracles happen to only a few selected individuals or that there is some special formula that is required to be granted a miracle. But to think that way also requires ignoring the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, who have said that we must live our lives in accordance with God’s will and that miracles, when they happen, happen in their own time.

On December 3, 2010, Luciano and Valentina were expecting the birth of their first daughter. They had already named her – Alma. But their plans changed suddenly that afternoon when Alma was delivered still-born. Valentina had to undergo additional surgeries due to complications from the delivery, and those operations made it highly unlikely that she would ever give birth to another child.
 
Luciano grew up in Puglia, Italy, a region blessed with a healthy environment, the warm Italian sun, and a rich and vital Catholic tradition. In Puglia there are the shrines of Padre Pio and of the Archangel Michael. From his earliest days, his mother used to bring him and his brother on a pilgrimage whose path would take them first to the shrine of Padre Pio and then to that of the Archangel Michael.
 
In the depth of their despair, something deep in Luciano’s soul beckoned him to return to his roots.  He and Valentina decided to spend their first wedding anniversary, May 15, 2011, in San Giovanni Rotondo. When they arrived, they visited the Padre Pio shrine, attended Mass, and passed by Padre Pio’s body to offer their intentions, all the while praying desperately for a sign that would reassure them that they could still become parents. They asked for a sign, anything that would have brought hope to them.
 
They stayed at a retreat house Centro di Spiritualità Padre Pio, located in front of the shrine. Erected in the exact place intended by Padre Pio, the center is an amazing spiritual retreat whose construction was overseen by Msgr. Pierino Galeone, Padre Pio’s friend for 20 years who is still alive today. He was so close to Padre Pio that he was a witness of the Diocesan canonization process of Padre Pio as well a co-celebrant with Saint John Paul II at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, on June 16, 2002, when Padre Pio was canonized.
 
As they were about to finish lunch they were invited to another room where Msgr. Pierino Galeone and a few other guests were finishing their supper. As they entered the room, they felt surrounded by a great and profound spiritual presence. Msgr. Galeone stood up and invited them to sit near him. He then asked them to share with him the reasons for their visit to San Giovanni Rotondo. They told him about their sorrow and hopes. Msgr. Galeone immediately took from his jacket a relic, a handkerchief with blood stains of Padre Pio. When he removed the relic from its small plastic bag, the fragrance was so powerful that it was as if a thousand roses bloomed in the middle of the room. Luciano and Valentina looked long into each other’s eyes, convinced that they were experiencing something of divine origin. That was their first big encounter with Padre Pio. Msgr. Galeone allowed them to touch the relic and joined them in a moment of prayer. Msgr. Galeone told them not to lose faith and that Padre Pio had been praying for them. He said that more suffering would come but that they would be parents of a little boy. From that moment, their devotion grew stronger and stronger. 

They left San Giovanni Rotondo with hope in their hearts, knowing that what they had witnessed was something so remarkable that it could not possibly end there. Returning to the United States, they did indeed experience more hardships, and Valentina endured multiple miscarriages. In spite of it all, they felt ever closer to Padre Pio in both their prayers and actions.
 
Then, in 2013, on the 45th anniversary of Padre Pio’s passing, Luciano sponsored a series of events in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut to promote a new book and photo exhibit of Padre Pio.  He thought that it just wasn’t enough. There needed to be a new entity based in America to bring the teachings, spirituality, and charisma of Padre Pio to the faithful of this country, and he did not want to delay serving Padre Pio’s cause by waiting for their own miracle. So, on April 4, 2014, he founded the Saint Pio Foundation and together they invested all their energies in laying the groundwork to ensure that the foundation could grow and receive the needed support to become established.

Parenthood was still only an aspiration and not a reality for them, but on December 22, 2014, Valentina announced that she was pregnant, and in September 2015 their son Sebastian was born. Today, his birth remains their miracle – a living witness to the power and compassion of God for which they prayed so often and then received.
 
Because they had received so much from God’s own hand, Luciano poured himself into the work of the foundation. The presence of Padre Pio in his life and Valentina’s has drawn them ever closer to God from whom all miracles come. They are certain that their faith, strength, and the miracle that they have received and continue to receive are the gifts of having drawn closer to Padre Pio and unceasingly seeking his intercession!