Henry Voso never thought he’d live long enough to see middle age.
So when he was given an unexpected 40th birthday present, he knew his life would be forever changed.
“I was really shocked,” Voso said. “It was one of my few silent moments, speechless, because I talk a lot. I didn’t know what to say. I’m pretty sure I said thank you but other than that what do you say?”
Voso is legally blind. He started losing his sight as a teenager as a result of the neurological disorder hydrocephalus.
Voso and Catholics all over the world celebrated the feast day of Padre Pio on Saturday Sept, 23. Voso did it with his 40th birthday present, two of Padre Pio’s second-class relics.
“I really believe the little eyesight I do have, because I’m legally blind, is thanks to him because I’m not supposed to see you at all and even though a lot of people think I’m faking it,” Voso said.
At first, Voso, a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus, was given an amice worn by Padre Pio by a fellow knight 23 years ago.
When he got home and explored the liturgical vestment, he found under it a second relic, a handkerchief used by the Italian priest.
On the amice that Voso keeps in a repurposed box in his Manhattan apartment is Padre Pio’s blood, most likely from the stigmata wounds he bore, in the same places where Jesus was nailed to the cross during his crucifixion.
The stigmata appeared on Padre Pio’s body in 1918 and for the next 50 years until shortly before his death.
He bled from them every single day, a mystery that has touched his devotion for decades.
Voso deals with a mystery of his own. His condition left him with no optic nerves yet sometimes he’s able to see. He said much like Padre Pio’s stigmata, doctors have never been able to explain it.
After being given the gift of the relics, he wanted to share it with others. “That’s when I started visiting the sick,” Voso said. “I was anti-relic completely. Now I have relics of all kinds, but back then people would want to pray over me with a relic, and I would say no leave me alone. Now I pray over other people.”
What Padre Pio means to him is something that’s kept him going, despite all the obstacles he faces.
“What Padre Pio has brought into my life and kept it going is the big four letter word hope,” Voso said. “When I die, I want it written on my tombstone, don’t give up.”
Voso will soon be entering into a clinical trial he hopes will help him regain his sight. He said Padre Pio will be with him.