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TESTIMONY
of Joey Lomangino
Of all the testimonies of Padre Pio
and Garabandal, the one that was to have the greatest impact on
the Garabandal movement was that of Joey Lomangino, founder of the
Workers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In fact, it was only because
of Padre Pio that Joey became involved in Garabandal.
In 1947, Joey was a competent young man of 16 who helped his father
on his truck route of delivering ice and coal in the Bay Ridge section
of Brooklyn, New York. On June 27 of that year, he noticed one of
the truck tires needed air. He took the tire off the truck and tolled
it a few blocks to a gas station. As he knelt down putting air in
the tire, it exploded, propelling the rim directly into his face.
Unconscious and bleeding from the deep three- inch gash, he was
rushed to the hospital where he remained in a coma until the following
month. Then on July 16, feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, he regained
consciousness to the blindness he has know ever since. His optic
and olfactory nerves had been severed. Not only was he blind but
also he had no sense of smell. And there was no cure, at least not
from a human point of view.
After attending the New York Institute for
the Blind and one year at St. John’s University, Joey, along
with three of his brothers, was given the opportunity to revive
a defunct sanitation company in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
They worked hard and the company came back to life, eventually developing
into a thriving business.
By 1961, Joey was financially secure but all the preoccupations
of running the business had worn him out. He needed some time off
so his doctor suggested he take a vacation. He decided to go to
Europe with his sister, Frances, and cousin, Carl. The last stop
on their intinerary was a visit to Uncle Frank in Bari, southern
Italy.
Joey was not practicing his religion very much in those days so
when his uncle suggested they take a ride to see Padre Pio at San
Giovanni Rotondo- Joey wasn’t interested. It was actually Joey’s
mother, Sophie, who had written to her brother, Frank, asking him
to take Joey to see Padre Pio, and Frank wasn’t about to let
his sister down. He insisted, and Joey, realizing the hospitality
he was being given by his uncle, couldn’t very well refuse.
At three o’clock in the morning, Joey was suddenly awakened
from a deep sleep. It was Uncle Frank. “Get up! We have to
be there for the 5:00a.m. Mass.” “What? Five o’clock
mass? Joey could hardly believe it but managed to get dressed and
piled into the car with his uncle, sister, and cousin for the long
drive to San Giovanni.
He didn’t understand much of the Latin coming from the loudspeakers
in the church as Padre Pio said the Mass but he sensed something
special in the priest’s voice. He couldn’t put his finger
on it but there was definitely something there.
After the Mass, Joey’s uncle took him upstairs to a large room
through which the Padre Pio always passed. This room was usually
filled with men, after the morning Mass, who were there to receive
Padre Pio’s blessing as he passed through their midst. Joey
and his uncle were among the last ones to enter the room and stood
at the back, just inside the door. Joey recounts his experience.
As Padre Pio came into the room
we all knelt down to receive his blessing. Padre Pio was coming
from the left hand side of the room across the front. All of a sudden
I heard the moving of knees and all; I didn’t know what was
going on. Padre Pio had his arms around me and started kissing me
on the forehead. He said, “Joey, I am so happy to see you.”
When my uncle told me it was Padre Pio embracing me, I was at a
loss for words because I was almost the last one in the room and
nobody knew I was going to be there, not even myself!
Joey was deeply impressed. How did
Padre Pio know his name? He was dumbfounded and knew he had to go
back again.
He was not able to return in 1962 but the following year, he and
his friend, Mario Covais, planned the trip. They would spend part
of their vacation at San Giovanni and the rest in a small Spanish
mountain village called San Sebastian de Garabandal where Our Lady
was reported to be appearing. Going to Garabandal was Mario’s
idea.
One of the things people did when they went to San Giovanni was
go to confession to Padre Pio, so Joey had his name added to the
list. He could never have imagined what was about to happen to him
when his turn came.
I went into the confessional, and knelt down on the kneeling bench.
Padre Pio was sitting right in front of me. When he took me by the
hand I was shocked because I thought of the American confessional
with the panel. [Editor’s note: Joey is referring to the kind
of confessional where the penitent is separated from the confessor
priest by a screen.]
As I knelt there with Padre
Pio holding onto my hand, he said to me in Italian, “Joey,
confess yourself.” To be very honest with you , I was embarrassed
because I wasn’t leading the right life. I was flabbergasted
and did not know just what to say. So Padre Pio took me by the hand
again and said, “Confess yourself.” And again, I just
found it very difficult to speak to him. Then in perfect English
he said to me, “Joey, do you remember the sins you committed?”
And in perfect English he said to me, “Joey, do you remember
when you were in a bar with a woman named Barbara, do you remember
the sins you committed?” And in perfect English he went right
down the line telling me the people I was with, the places I was
at and the sins I committed. Of course, I was perspiring, but I
had the grace through God to realize that if I had to endure all
that to get back to being happy, it was worth it. I really believed
that Father Pio could help me.
When he came to the bottom of
all of my sins, and it felt to me like a thousand years, he said
in Italian, “Are you sorry?” And I said, “Yes I am,
Padre.” Then as he gave me absolution for my sins my eyes started
to roll in my head. I started to rub my eyes and my head kept going
around and around. Then all of a sudden, my mind became very clear.
Padre Pio put his stigmatized hand to my lips and I kissed the stigmata.
Then he gave me a little smack on the face and said in Italian,
“Joey, a little patience and a little courage and you’re
going to be all right.” I was 33 years old and I felt I was
16. I had a firm purpose of amendment; I was sorry for all the sins
I committed in my life. I felt so good and clean that I didn’t
want to get involved with anybody because I was afraid that just
by talking, I was going to lose the grace I received.
But there was still more in store for Joey Lomangino on this fateful
trip. After Mass on one of the following mornings, he again found
himself in the large room where he had first encountered Padre Pio
in 1961. He knelt with the other men to receive the Padre’s
blessing as he passed by.
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When I had my injury
in 1947, I not only lost my eyes but I lost my sense of smell. So
when I knelt down to receive Padre Pio’s blessing, and got
the fragrance of roses that came from the wounds in his hands, I
was startled and went against the wall with my arms up to protect
myself; I didn’t know what it was. Padre Pio pulled down my
hand and said in Italian, “Joey, don’t be afraid.”
He then touched me on the bridge of my nose and my sense of smell
was restored to me after being without it from the day of my accident
in June 1947, which was 16 years.
Joey was overwhelmed with peace and joy and had no desire to leave
San Giovanni. So when Mario reminded him of their agreement to spend
part of their vacation in Garabandal, Joey hesitated.
“Mario, how do we know
it’s true? Maybe it’s not a true apparition; maybe it’s
a trick of the devil to make me lose the graces I just received.
Let’s go ask Padre Pio.” So Mario said, “OK.”
Of course, we were always given a wonderful reception by the priests
at Padre Pio’s so when I asked if it would be OK to speak to
Padre Pio the priest said, “Oh, yes, Joe.”
We made arrangements to come back again that same day and greeted
Padre Pio in the cloister. When we knelt down, we said to him, “Padre
Pio, is it true that the Virgin is appearing to the four girls of
Garabandal?” And he said, “Yes.” We said, “Padre
Pio, should we go there? He said, “Yes, why not?” And
that’s how it happened. Because I received the assurance from
Padre Pio that the Virgin was appearing and that he permitted me
to go, then I wasn’t afraid and I went.
The rest of Joey’s story is now
history, “Joey’s
Story,” and it all came about through the intercession
of Padre Pio.
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