Eventually the Abresch family settled
in San Giovanni Rotondo, where Friedrich
opened a photography studio. For many years he was something of an official
photographer for Padre Pio and his brethren.”
AP = Adriana Pallotti
Question — Well, Adriana, we are very happy to have you with us today, to
witness to the world, which is getting to know Luisa. We know that you
are very important in this process, since you have been one of the first
and most persevering persons to spread this message, so important for
the world. We would like to hear from you a little bit about your story.
Let’s start from the beginning, when you came here to San Giovanni
Rotondo. How did you begin your growth under the guidance of Padre Pio,
and then, your first meetings with Federico Abresch?
AP —
I came to live here in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1945, when I heard from
some friends that here there was a saint, so great, so holy, and with
the stigmata. I decided to leave the house of my father and all my things
to come here, to live in poverty close to Padre Pio. After a few years,
I met Federico Abresch, who was German, a convert through Padre Pio.
He had come to live in San Giovanni.
Question
— Wasn’t Federico a doctor, from Bologna?
AP — No, Federico was a photographer, who
had established his laboratory
in Bologna.
Question— And how did he arrive here?
AP— He was here because a friend of his invited him to come and visit
this great saint. He didn’t know him, but he came out of curiosity.
As soon as his eyes met the eyes of Padre Pio, his heart was touched and
he felt the desire to kneel at Padre Pio’s feet. And Padre Pio told
him: ‘What are you doing here after so many years without going to
Confession?!’ He said: ‘Father, please help me!’ And Padre
Pio: ‘Start from your last Confession! No, I don’t mean this
confession now. I mean from your last Confession before you got married!’
So he started his new Confession and then, touched by the words of Padre
Pio, he was converted.
Adriana Pallotti Founder of
the “House of Prayer for the Kingdom of the Divine Will”
in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
(Photo taken October 2005)
Federico Abresch
visits Luisa
After his conversion, he started to go around in search for spiritual
things and beautiful souls. He heard that there was a saint in Corato,
bedridden for 70 years, so he went to visit this soul, who began to talk
to him about beautiful spiritual things on the Divine Will. He was very
touched, and continued to visit Luisa with the permission of Padre Pio.
Luisa continued to talk to him about living in the Divine Will, and he
wrote notes. Sometimes, he saw her when she received the stigmata.
One day, he was visiting
Luisa and saw her bed shaking. He asked: ‘What’s happening?’
And Luisa said: ‘I suffer, I suffer! — but gladly!’ She
was suffering the Passion of Jesus. Abresch went to her very often, also
with his little son Pio, who was three years old. He asked: ‘So,
what are we going to do with this little boy... a Priest?’ And Luisa
said: ‘Eh, eh, let’s pray.’ In fact, Pio became a priest
and now he is in the Vatican. Abresch always continued to go to her. He
learned from her diaries, which she wrote at night. He would copy them
and then return them to Luisa. We learned this spirituality from him,
since he always continued to keep these writings.
First
little cenacles
Question— So he started his first
little cenacles?
AP — Yes, at night we used to go and
listen to his talks about Luisa. We were enthusiastic! I couldn’t
wait to go there, every Saturday night. We were about 5 or 6. He spoke
every week for one hour and a half, but we never wanted him to stop, so
much we loved this spirituality! It was about to give our human will to
God, and to receive His Will in exchange, so as to become divinized. In
hearing this, we felt that we had found Paradise on earth! We were enthusiastic,
and Padre Pio was happy too.
Once I asked Padre Pio: ‘Father,
is it good for me to listen, write and print the writings of Luisa Piccarreta?
And he said: ‘Yes! Repeat it!’ So, I asked again: ‘Father, can I
