Padre Pio's battle with the devil

[Lorenzo]

Padre Pio was once beaten by invisible hands, as witnessed by Padres Evangelista and Agostino, who fell to their knees in prayer and continually sprinkled the room with Holy Water. After reacting to being struck repeatedly for fifteen minutes, the holy Padre came to himself and revealed that he "had been flogged by horrible men who looked like professional torturers."

There were other times when he declared that the demons appeared to him in the form of various friends, colleagues, his confessor and superiors. At such times the holy Padre recognized the diabolical ruse by a certain feeling of apprehension and disgust, and to prove the true identity of the apparitions, he insisted that they utter the words of praise to JESUS CHRIST-- an order they refused. Whereas diabolical visions gave Padre Pio an uneasy and unholy feeling, actual visions of holy persons gave him feelings of love, exhilaration and contentment.



Source:

Cruz, Joan Carroll. (1999). Angels and Demons. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc.