As well as Pietrelcina that recalls Assisi, and the Gargano that recalls Verna, Padre Pio had deeper, interior affinities with St. Francis. The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza ("Home for the relief of the Suffering") flourished like the love that St. Francis gave to the lepers. His fondness for the Madonna and the little church of S. Maria delle Grazie mirrored St. Francis` preference for the Madonna and the little church of S. Maria degli Angeli, the Porziuncola. The same love for Jesus on the cross gave them both the Lord`s stigmata. The same discretion regarding the stigmata, the "secrets of the King", was found in the stigmatised man from Verna and the stigmatised man from the Gargano.

Padre Pio`s piety was shown in specifically Franciscan devotions that centred around Christ, the mystery of the Nativity, in the presence of the Eucharist, in the drama of the Passion. Padre Pio lived these mysteries in the daily celebration of mass, with the same devotion that St. Francis showed to the blood of the cross. Our Lady, has always held the leading position in the heart of Padre Pio. This love was born in Pietrelcina. The Madonna as a mother followed him as an ally in childhood and brighten in the fight against the forces of evil in the darkest hours.
The Marian path of Padre Pio begins on the day of his baptism in the church of St. Anne as a child, the little Francis, attended the mother church of Pietrelcina is venerated the Virgin of free and for life, Madonna illuminates his true soul of sweetness. Fra Pio tells the painful anxieties of his throbbing heart, she is filled with the spirit of holiness and is led to the altar to pray.