Ruffin was a Lutheran pastor who was interested in people whom God seemed to use and bring to bring Himself to humanity. Even if Padre Pio never had the stigmata, he would have been held in high esteem by many who appreciated people who strived to live a holy and upright life. However, we may never have heard of him. It was the reported stimatization that first caught the attention of laity. Then it was the miracles attributed to him. It is obvious to true believers that the hand of God was working in and through this friar's life.
Ruffin does a good job condensing the huge amount of information on St. Pio into a fascinating, readable account of his life. The author really should be applauded for his contribution on his learned research into Padre Pio's life and career. He interviewed many people who are no longer with us and has greatly added to the humanization of St. Pio showing him to be a real human being and not a holy caricature. In some ways I thought he bent over backwards too much trying to legitimize some of the miracles attributed to him. Apparently, he did this for the doubters. Personally, I'm tired of the doubters and non-believers many are so fanatical that nothing will ever change their minds. But, Ruffin tries very hard to choose the healings and stories that can be verified with contemporary documents and statements. Which is good for historical purposes and scientific purposes, although many doctors confronted with miraculous healings refused to acknowledge them as "miracles" and tried to rationalize such events with their own mumbo jumbo so they wouldn't have to give any credence to the existence of God.
This book is really a testament to the amazing efforts of Rev. Ruffin who did such a meticulous job in researching, interviewing, evaluating, updating and writing, that this book will be the go-to book for decades to come. I am so thankful that he completed this book in February 2018 before he died a year later.
For those interested, there are some videos available online form years ago where C. Bernard Ruffin gives us some insight in his interest and writing of the preeminent biography.
I am a very slow reader, but I was able to get through the over 400 page book quite fast considering. A miracle!? Well, maybe more because of the interest of the subject matter and because of Ruffin's easy writing style. God bless St. Pio and God bless C. Bernard Ruffin for writing these editions on Pio's life.
