So, Friar Modestino, is there a special direct link between you and Padre Pio?
Yes, he sent for me to give me something. But we already had a dialogue going on between us for sometime. I am one of his fellow villagers. My mother was his age, and our land was next to his, so you could say that I grew up always hearing about Padre Pio. After my military service, I went to meet him and I realised that I had to live near him. I left my family and I became a friar too; a lay brother because I hadnt studied and it was too late to do so. Padre Pio became my spiritual guide, my confessor, my life guide. I became his spiritual son. He was very fond of me. When we met, he hugged and kissed me as if I were his real son. I will always be near you he used to say to me and Saint Francis gaze will always be upon you. Other times he said to me: Remember, whatever you want from me, you will have.I was so happy to be Padre Pios spiritual son. One day in 1956, when I was in the friary of Agnone, in Molise, I began thinking about how many people would like to be Padre Pios spiritual
