RELATED: Two Padre Pio Relics Boost Clinically Blind Man\u2019s Devotion to the Saint<\/a><\/p>\nOppedisano, who was born in Calabria\u00a0in 1958,\u00a0moved\u00a0from southern Italy\u00a0to\u00a0the U.S. at the age of 13\u00a0and\u00a0grew\u00a0up to\u00a0become\u00a0a restaurateur,\u00a0explained that\u00a0he\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0always had a\u00a0devotion\u00a0to\u00a0Padre Pio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0heard of him, of course,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cBut to me, he was a\u00a0saint like\u00a0any other saint.\u00a0No\u00a0difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Padre Pio\u00a0(1887-1968) was an Italian friar\u00a0of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin\u00a0who bore the stigmata\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the wounds of Jesus Christ on the cross, on his hands and feet\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and\u00a0was known as a mystic. He was canonized by Pope\u00a0St.\u00a0John Paul II in\u00a02002.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oppedisano, who has made\u00a0numerous\u00a0trips to Italy to visit Padre Pio\u2019s tomb in San Giovanni Rotondo in\u00a0southern Italy, said\u00a0he\u00a0saw the statue during one of his journeys and decided to buy it and have it shipped home.\u00a0The statue depicts the saint with his arms raised,\u00a0as if greeting a\u00a0visitor,\u00a0and\u00a0features\u00a0images of the stigmata on\u00a0his\u00a0hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first\u00a0time\u00a0Oppedisano\u00a0felt Padre Pio\u2019s\u00a0presence in his life was 15\u00a0years\u00a0ago,\u00a0in\u00a02010, when he was about to open Il Bacco Ristorante at its current\u00a0location.\u00a0He\u00a0had\u00a0operated\u00a0the restaurant for many years in another spot on the same\u00a0Little Neck\u00a0block,\u00a0but needed a\u00a0bigger place as his business grew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three days before opening,\u00a0he was sitting at a back table talking to one of his\u00a0servers\u00a0about\u00a0the mother of\u00a0another\u00a0worker who had given him a gift \u2014 a candle\u00a0with\u00a0Padre Pio\u2019s\u00a0image\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which\u00a0she said would ensure that the\u00a0saint would\u00a0bring him good luck.\u00a0She explained\u00a0that her grandfather was Padre Pio\u2019s\u00a0cousin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While talking\u00a0to the waiter,\u00a0Oppedisano pointed to\u00a0the candle. At that moment, he felt a sensation throughout his entire\u00a0body \u201clike\u00a0someone\u00a0was grabbing me,\u201d he recalled, \u201cand I started crying\u00a0like a baby.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was convinced\u00a0that it was Padre Pio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ve been a firm believer ever since,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Joe Oppedisano had a grotto erected on the vacant lot he owns, in which statues of Padre Pio and the Holy Family will be placed before the grand opening on April 26. Oppedisano said he envisions the spot as a park where people can sit, pray, and enjoy quiet time to reflect.<\/p>\n
The second time he felt Padre Pio\u2019s intercession was on\u00a0Oct. 4,\u00a02020,\u00a0when he survived a plane crash\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0Long Island Sound\u00a0near the Throggs Neck Bridge\u00a0that killed one of his\u00a0friends. Oppedisano, who has a\u00a0pilot\u00a0license,\u00a0was\u00a0operating\u00a0a single-engine Cessna\u00a0with two friends, Maggie O\u2019Neil and Jose Urena,\u00a0aboard and was getting set to land when a boat\u00a0obscured his path.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just one second, everything changed,\u201d he recalled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In trying to avoid the boat, the plane\u00a0crashed into a\u00a0pier and\u00a0was destroyed.\u00a0O\u2019Neil was killed. Oppedisano and Urena\u00a0survived,\u00a0but both sustained multiple injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oppedisano, who suffered a fractured spine, 16 broken ribs, and a pulverized ankle and heel,\u00a0underwent\u00a010\u00a0surgeries and was hospitalized for four weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u00a0asked\u00a0for Padre Pio\u2019s intercession every day during his recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0truly\u00a0believe\u00a0Padre Pio helped me.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0alive,\u00a0and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0here today,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With his park dedicated to Padre Pio, Oppedisano\u00a0said he hopes\u00a0others\u00a0will\u00a0also\u00a0ask for the saint\u2019s intercession.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook\u00a0at\u00a0what he did for me,\u201d he said. \u201cHe can help you,\u00a0too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get him out of the basement and put him where he belongs \u2014 where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-152647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get him out of the basement and put him where he belongs \u2014 where people can see him,\u201d says Joe Oppedisano, talking about the statue of Padre Pio he brought over from Italy. The statue is currently in the basement of his restaurant, Il Bacco Ristorante in Little Neck. (Photos: Paula Katinas)<\/p>\n