Padre Pio prevented a gangster from murdering his wife, who then left crime and had a baby with his wife

The year was 1921, and a hoodlum from a gang of hardened criminals had decided that he would murder his wife. His reason? He wanted to be free of her, so that he could marry another woman. But, he needed an alibi, and he coldly decided to kill his wife after she had been to confession to Padre Pio.

His wife was a devotee of Padre Pio, and the man suggested to her that they take a trip to see Padre Pio. When they arrived, he left his wife in a hotel, and went alone to arrange for her to have confession with Padre Pio. He plotted that while his wife was at confession, he would be seen in town to corroborate his alibi. He looked for an inn where he would invite other to have a drink with him. He would then make an excuse to leave the inn, kill his wife who would have just left confession and then return to the inn. Very much a plan of ‘have a drink, kill the wife, then have another drink’, not exactly the storylines of romantic comedy, but it is the mindset of the psychopathic gangster.

He went to make an appointment for his wife’s confession. Evening was setting in and the light was getting fainter – he was sure that no one would see him murder his wife. He felt proud – his plan of murder was perfect. He went in, and approached Padre Pio’s confessional. The gangster felt an impulse that he couldn’t contain. He knelt in front of Padre Pio’s confessional, and began to make the sign of the cross. A cry came from Padre Pio: “God way, go away! Go away! Don’t you know that it is forbidden to kill somebody?” Padre Pio grabbed the villain by the arm and led him out. The man was utterly shocked. He ran away into the Italian countryside. Tripping on a boulder, he fell on his face and into mud. For the first time in his whole life he started to see the horrors and the dreadful sins that he had committed. He was overcome by his wickedness and willingness to slaughter others. In this moment of torment, he went back to Padre Pio and asked him to hear his confession. Padre Pio consented, and with immense gentleness Padre Pio spoke to this base criminal as though he were an old friend. Padre Pio recounted for him his life, minute by minute, crime after crime – in exacting detail. Until finally, Padre Pio came to man’s most recent plan to kill his wife. The man heard Padre Pio tell him about the murder that he had so sneakily strategised. The man had never told anyone else about his sordid plan to do away with his wife. The man threw himself at the feet of the dear friar and begged forgiveness. There is more. Before Padre Pio absolved him of his sins, Padre Pio asked him, “you have desired to have children haven’t you? Well, do not offend God anymore and you will have a child.”

One year later, the man returned to Padre Pio, completely converted from his life of crime and the father of a child who was born to the same wife he had so wantonly wanted to kill.