This “saint with sweets” was a friend of Padre Pio
Fra Nazareno da Pula, a saint known for sweets, was a friend of Padre Pio The article, written by Philip Kosloski, was published on 27 May 2026 on Aleteia It highlights Nazareno’s life and his connection to the famous Italian priest The piece is part of Aleteia’s spiritual content, focusing on inspiring stories
4 months ago
Friar Nazareno da Pula (1911‑1992) was an Italian Franciscan lay brother celebrated for his humility, his habit of handing out orange‑lemon sweets with a Hail Mary, and his close friendship with St. Padre Pio. In May 2026 the Vatican recognized his heroic virtues, granting him the title “Venerable” and moving him forward on the path to beatification and canonization.
Nazareno was born in Italy in 1911 to a devout Catholic family but received no formal education.
At age 20 he entered the Italian army, became engaged, and was sent to fight in the African War.
Captured in Ethiopia in 1941, he spent almost four years in a British prison before returning to Italy 1.
After his release, Nazareno took a modest job and deepened his interest in the saints.
In 1950 he met Padre Pio, who encouraged him to join the Franciscan lay brothers, where he took the name Fr. Nazareno da Pula.
Padre Pio advised him to enter the community in Sanluri rather than stay at San Giovanni Rotondo 1.
Fr. Nazareno earned the nickname “the saint with the sweets” because he distributed orange and lemon candies while urging recipients to pray a Hail Mary 1.
His role parallels that of other “holy porters” such as Blessed Solanus Casey and St. André Bessette 1.
He built a shrine to Our Lady of Consolation in Cagliari, where he lived until his death from cancer in 1992 1.
The Vatican’s 2026 declaration of his heroic virtues elevated him to the rank of Venerable, an essential step toward possible beatification and canonization 1.
Nazareno’s life exemplifies the Franciscan emphasis on simple service, humility, and devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin, reinforcing the spiritual legacy of Padre Pio and other Franciscan saints 1.*
Explore the spiritual friendship between Padre Pio and Fra Nazareno
Padre Pio’s “friendship” with Fra Nazareno is best understood—not primarily as documented personal affection in the modern sense—but as a real spiritual communion rooted in shared charisms: union with the crucified Christ, intense prayer, Eucharistic love, Marian devotion, and pastoral charity. The sources available here describe, in depth, what each man was spiritually, but they do not provide enough direct evidence of specific meetings, letters, or explicit mutual testimony. So what can be explored faithfully is the shape of their spiritual friendship: how their lives “matched” and how such matching produces a kind of friendship in God.
John Paul II repeatedly presents Padre Pio as a saint whose inner life is defined by love of the crucified Christ and by a sacramental spirituality. In canonization context, he is described as “deeply in love with the crucified Christ,” sharing even physically “in the mystery of the Cross.”
Padre Pio is portrayed as a man whose apostolic fruitfulness comes from an “intimate and constant union with God,” evidenced by “long hours spent in prayer and in the confessional.”
John Paul II also gives a concise “principle” from Padre Pio: “I am a poor Franciscan who prays” and “prayer is the best weapon… a key that opens the heart of God.”
So if we ask what it means to call this a “friendship,” the sources suggest that Padre Pio’s “friendship” is not only emotional closeness; it is the kind of friendship that helps souls return to God through prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation, where Christ’s mercy is made present. Benedict XVI emphasizes that Padre Pio’s distinctive feature was the “ministry as confessor,” with “long hours he spent in the confessional.”
The Eucharist is presented as the heart of his spirituality. John Paul II says: “Holy Mass was the heart and the source of his whole spirituality” and quotes Padre Pio’s theme: “There is in the Mass… the whole of Calvary.”
The Holy See Press Office likewise frames his life as faith, prayer, and being “like him in the sacrifice of himself,” and it highlights that the “pinnacle of his apostolic activity was the celebration of Holy Mass.”
This inner union does not remain private. John Paul II describes how “from the intense relationship with God” there flowed “slancio di carità verso il prossimo,” and people increasingly sought Padre Pio for help and comfort “nelle necessità fisiche e spirituali.”
He especially mentions the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” as a lasting sign of Padre Pio’s attention to the sick.
And he explains the logic of that charity: the work offers “cure mediche” animated by “carità e solidarietà cristiana,” serving “nell’ammalato la misteriosa presenza del Cristo sofferente.”
For Fra Nazareno, the sources given focus on his role as a Passionist priest and, especially, as master of novices—a form of spiritual fatherhood that naturally overlaps with what Padre Pio was doing in the confessional and in spiritual direction.
In the account of Fra Nazareno’s life and virtues, he is described as marked by “caritate erga Deum et proximum,” carried out through faithful observance of a strict rule.
AAS describes him as “assiduous” in union with God, showing that divine love through “diligenti austerae regulae Passionistarum observantia.”
The text then gives very direct spiritual traits relevant to “friendship” in God:
A major point for understanding spiritual friendship is how Fra Nazareno worked with others. AAS states that he carried out his duty as master of novices for “more than thirty years,” and that he formed his students “example more than word.”
That aligns naturally with Padre Pio’s own portrait: both men are presented as men whose spirituality becomes visible and thus draws others toward holiness—Padre Pio through his confessional ministry and Eucharistic immersion, Fra Nazareno through formation shaped by Passion and Eucharistic love.
The Passionist biographical text also notes that he had a pious filial spirit toward Mary, especially named “Immaculata” and “Perdolente,” and he inserted this Marian tendency into novice formation, with daily recitation of the Rosary.
And it describes him as moved by an “spiritus deprecationis” (a spirit of intercession/prayer) that radiated in modest habit and intention.
Since we lack direct documentation in the provided sources (for example: letters “from Pio to Nazareno” explicitly calling one another friends), the most faithful approach is to describe their spiritual friendship as convergence of charisms—a communion of lives shaped by the same ultimate interior reality.
Padre Pio is presented as “deeply in love with the crucified Christ.”
Fra Nazareno is presented as “defixus” in the mystery of the Passion, meditating it daily and living from it.
When two lives are centered on the same crucified Christ, the Church’s way of speaking about “spiritual friendship” becomes realistic: both are walking the same road, even if their external biographies differ.
Padre Pio’s Eucharistic theology is summarized in John Paul II’s citation: in the Mass there is “the whole of Calvary.”
Fra Nazareno is described as loving the Eucharist with special intensity: celebrating/receiving it with ardor and adoring it at length.
That shared Eucharistic realism is precisely what makes their friendship “spiritual” rather than merely institutional: their hearts are tuned to the same sacramental center.
John Paul II explains that Padre Pio’s “spiritual fruitfulness” roots in intimate union with God, proven by prayer and confessional hours.
For Fra Nazareno, his life is portrayed as animated by a spirit of prayer/deprecation and by persistent faithfulness to a strict rule and continual devotion.
Thus, the “friendship” reads like a shared logic: prayer is not a supplement; it is the power of mission.
Padre Pio’s charity is described as flowing “almost naturally” from his intense relationship with God into concrete care for those in need, especially the sick.
Fra Nazareno’s pastoral charity appears primarily as formation: he taught novices and shaped their perfection by example, with dedication to the very “highest degree of perfection” in his own sphere (AAS emphasizes exemplar formation in a long master-of-novices service).
So both men practice charity, but at two complementary levels: Padre Pio as sacramental confessor and healer of spiritual wounds; Fra Nazareno as formator who builds souls from the start.
Padre Pio is remembered for devotion to Mary under “Our Lady of Grace” (Santa Maria delle Grazie).
Fra Nazareno’s Marian devotion emphasizes Mary “Immaculata” and “Perdolente” and the daily Rosary.
This doesn’t prove they said the same prayers to Mary together, but it shows a similar Marian theology: Mary accompanies souls toward Christ—especially in the mystery of suffering.
What the sources here clearly support is their spiritual profiles (Padre Pio’s union with crucified Christ, prayer, Eucharist, and charity; Fra Nazareno’s Eucharistic love, Passion meditative life, Marian devotion, and formation by example).
What they do not clearly provide (in the text excerpts available) is direct evidence of a specific documented relationship—such as named correspondence, mutual statements of friendship, or a scene of meeting. Therefore, any claim that they were “friends” in the strict historical sense would go beyond the current evidence. The strongest, faithful conclusion is that their “friendship” lies in shared spiritual center and shared pastoral mission, which is a recognized way holiness becomes communion in the Church.
Padre Pio’s life is portrayed as a profound friendship with Christ crucified expressed through prayer, confessional ministry, Eucharistic “Calvary,” and charity to the suffering.
Fra Nazareno’s life is portrayed as a formational and penitential priesthood animated by Eucharistic love, daily fixation on the Passion, Marian devotion, and exemplary formation of novices.
When these centers coincide, spiritual friendship becomes intelligible: two saints move in the same direction with the same interior compass—to Christ, through the Cross, in the Eucharist, by prayer, for the salvation of souls.