This is the twenty-second volume in the
Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read, it released in 2026, it is the latest to be released. I was partway through another volume when this released and finished it first, then immediately began this one. Two Years ago I read my first book in the series, it was
Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read one almost every month since that first one, and if I can track down all the out of print, will do so until I finish all 25 released to date in the series. After I finished all of them that had eBook editions I have been randomly jumping around. I prefer the digital editions or eBooks with my dyslexia is easier to read.
The description of this volume states:
“Discover the timeless spiritual counsel of Padre Pio--one of the most beloved and powerful spiritual guides of the twentieth century--whose life was profoundly marked by intense suffering and extraordinary union with Christ. Stay with Me, Lord, the newest book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series, offers a month of daily readings that draw you into Padre Pio's prayer of intimacy, dependence, and surrender.
At the heart of Padre Pio's devotion was a single, piercing longing: that Christ would never leave him. This longing gave rise to his powerful post-Communion prayer, "Stay with Me, Lord"--the heartfelt plea of a soul that could not imagine separation from its Savior. It is a prayer of dependence, intimacy, and trust, and a window into Padre Pio's very heart.
Stay with Me, Lord invites you to make this prayer your own and to discover how uniting your suffering with Christ can become a path to deeper love, healing, and holiness. Padre Pio reminds us that "when we suffer, Jesus is closer to us"--a truth that offers hope in every season of life.
Each day features a brief morning meditation drawn from Padre Pio's own writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and an evening prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends. This easy-to-use format is designed to help busy people pray in the footsteps of a great spiritual teacher.
Padre Pio's enduring witness stirs our desire for closeness to Christ and shows that no suffering is ever wasted when it is entrusted to him.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
About the authors we are informed:
“Padre Pio (1887-1968) was a Capuchin priest known for bearing the stigmata--the five wounds of Christ crucified--making him the only priest in Catholic history officially recognized with this phenomenon. He was also associated with extraordinary spiritual gifts, including bilocation, prophecy, and both physical and spiritual healings. Renowned for his holiness and insight, he often spent up to sixteen hours a day hearing the confessions of pilgrims who traveled from around the world to see him.
On June 16, 2002, Padre Pio was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square, at what was reported to be one of the largest gatherings in the city's history.”
and
“Susan De Bartoli is the author of the award-winning Welcoming the Christ Child with Padre Pio and Welcoming the Holy Spirit with Padre Pio, as well as Carry the Cross with Padre Pio. She serves as the secretary of the Board of Directors of the Padre Pio Foundation of America and owns Little Flower Pilgrimages.
De Bartoli has been a guest on various radio and television shows and podcasts, including Let Me Be Frank with Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, Seize the Day with Gus Lloyd, EWTN's Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo, and Catholic Faith Network's CFN Live.
She is a lady commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
De Bartoli lives in the New York area.”
and
“John Kirvan (1932-2012) wrote primarily about classical spirituality. He conceived the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series and edited most of its seventeen titles. Kirvan's other books include God Hunger, Silent Hope, Raw Faith, and There Is a God, There Is No God.”
I believe there are 19 volumes in this series currently in print, but only 16 of those have digital editions. This was the latest volume released in July of 2026. There are also a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the late 1990’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding beginning in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series.
I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’. And as of the reading of this I am down to 3 left to go. I love the recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes. I hope also that Ave Maria brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others.
The sections in this volume are:
Timeline
Who Is Padre Pio?
Stay with Me, Lord
How to Use This Book
My Day Begins
All Through the Day
My Day Is Ending
Some Other Ways to Use This Book
Thirty Days with Padre Pio
Spend 30 Days With A Great Spiritual Teacher
While reading this I highlighted numerous passages, some of them are:
“His message to the world was disarmingly simple: “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” These were not comforting platitudes; they were words forged in fire, born from a life lived face-to-face with evil and anchored in unshakeable trust in God.”
“Padre Pio showed that sanctity is not reserved for the extraordinary but cultivated through ordinary daily faithfulness, moment by moment, in prayer, obedience, and self-offering. It is shaped in silence and proven in suffering.”
“Padre Pio is not merely a saint of the past. He is a spiritual guide for the present and a signpost for the future. In a world starving for truth, beauty, and meaning, his life calls out with clarity and compassion. He teaches us that holiness is possible even now. And he reminds us that no suffering, however great, is wasted when united to Christ.”
“The books in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provide an introduction to the spiritual insights and wisdom of some of history’s most extraordinary saints. Through these pages, you’re invited to a place beyond mere reading, into an experience of daily prayer and meditation. You’ll be accompanied by a spiritual teacher whose wisdom will awaken, enrich, and empower your walk with the Lord.”
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
“Strengthen me for the final journey so that I may walk faithfully with you unto the end.”
“Jesus, I offer my love, my suffering, and my life to you.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and let me love you not only in joy and consolation but in silence, in suffering, and in the dryness of spirit. Let my heart grow in maturity, like that of your servant Padre Pio, who longed to love you not for reward but simply because you are worthy of all love.”
“I beseech you, oh my good God, to be my life, my ship, and my port. You have placed me on the Cross of your Son, and I am trying to accustom myself to it as best I can. I am convinced that I shall never come down from that Cross and that I shall never again see a clear sky.”
“I want to feel your troubles as if they were my own.”
“If you desire my life to be a hidden sacrifice, then take it, Lord, and use it as you will. Let every wound, sorrow, and burden become a quiet gift of love in your hands.”
“Stay with me, Lord, to teach me that peace is not just a passing feeling, but a holy state of the soul, rooted in your presence. Grant me the simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, and tranquility of soul that come only when you reign within me. Keep my conscience pure before you.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and teach me the humility of Padre Pio, who sought not to explain himself but simply to ask for prayer, that your most holy will might be done in him.”
“Even when you give only small glimpses, a star’s ray, a flower’s fragrance, a melody’s beauty, or the caress of the wind, teach me to recognize these as signs of your presence; gentle reminders that you are near and attentive to my heart.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and teach me not to be anxious when trials stretch long and feel heavy upon my shoulders.”
“In your hands, even purgatory-like suffering, when endured in love and obedience to the Father’s will, becomes more precious than all the comforts the world can offer.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and remain fixed in my mind, imprinted upon my heart. Your beauty, your mercy, even the weight of your justice, all surround me in unceasing contemplation. I cannot escape you, nor do I wish to, for even in the struggle, you are my joy, the song that never fades, the light that never dims.”
“We must try to keep our thoughts pure, our ideas upright and honest, and our intentions holy.”
“Stay with me, Lord. You speak to us with words of truth and consolation. You are faithful, and you never abandon a soul. No one falls away from you by accident, for your mercy always seeks and embraces us.”
“All this comes about not as a result of any consideration but by an interior flame and by such excessive love that if God did not come to my assistance, I should in a short time be burnt up.”
“Lord, work in the secret places of my soul, where only your love reaches.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and draw me ever deeper into this hidden place, where all words grow silent, all fear and darkness vanish, and only your light remains. Let my soul rest in this secret union with you, secure in the mystery of your love, a love stronger than death, a love eternal and unchanging.”
“For some time past I have been plunged day and night into the dark night of the soul. My spiritual darkness lasts for long hours, long days, and frequently for entire weeks.
“While I am immersed in this night of the soul, I cannot tell you whether I am in hell or in purgatory. The intervals in which a little light enters my soul are very brief, and while I am taking stock of my life, in a flash I fall into the dark prison. Immediately, then, all the favors the Lord has lavished on my soul are blotted out of my memory.”
“Lord, in the darkness, I trust you.”
“Though God seems far away, he draws close.”
“Stay with me, Lord. With you, the Cross becomes a treasure where souls are clothed in light and inflamed with love. Left to myself, suffering feels meaningless, but with you it becomes the place where love is proven and redeemed.”
“Stay with me, Lord, and teach me to love the Cross, for in it I meet you.”
“Burn away my old self; clothe me in Christ.”
“Teach me, O Mary, to understand your ways, your silence, your humility, your courage, your constant yes to God. Draw me into your life so that I too may be clothed in your virtues and burn with your fire of holy love.”
Each day follows the same format with three main sections:
AS OUR DAY BEGINS: “As the day begins set aside a quiet moment in a quiet place to do the reading provided for the day
The passages are short; they never run more than a couple of hundred words. They have been carefully selected, though, to give a spiritual focus, a spiritual center to your whole day. They are designed to remind you, as another day begins, of your own existence at a spiritual level. They are meant to put you in the presence of the spiritual master who is your companion and teacher on this journey. This is especially true of this journey with Catherine of Siena. The readings are her report of God’s words to her, God’s side of the dialogue. And since the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at every moment during you are in the presence of a God who invites you continually, but quietly, to live in and through him, what better source than the words of God himself?”
ALL THROUGH YOUR DAY: “Immediately following the day’s reading you will find a single sentence, a meditation in the form of a mantra, a phrase meant as a companion for your spirit as it moves through a busy day. Write it down on a 3" x 5" card or on the appropriate page of your daybook. Look at it as often as you can. Repeat it quietly to yourself, and go on your way.
It is not meant to stop you in your tracks or to distract you from responsibilities but simply, gently, to remind you of the presence of God and your desire to respond to this presence.”
AS YOUR DAY IS ENDING: “This is a time for letting go of the day, for entering a world of imaginative prayer … This exercise is not meant to last more than a few minutes. End it when you are comfortable doing so. It has two parts. The first, in keeping with Catherine’s model, is a personal response to the words spoken by God in the day’s reading. Just as God has spoken to you, so you speak to God. Second, you are invited to turn to the familiarity of a prayer based on Catherine’s own words. It is an act of trust and confidence, an entryway into peaceful sleep, a simple evening prayer that gathers together the spiritual character of the day that is now ending as it began—in the presence of God.
It is a time for summary and closure.”
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
My Day Begins
Letters, October 10, 1916
Don’t be worried by the thought that the time of trial will continue for a long time. Purgatory suffered according to God’s will is better than enjoyment of the cloister, a pale image of the heavenly Jerusalem. We don’t reach salvation without crossing the stormy sea continually threatened with disaster.
Calvary is the hill of the saints, but from there we pass on to another mountain, which is called Tabor.
All Through the Day
Take heart and have no fear.
My Day Is Ending
Stay with me, Lord,
and teach me not to be anxious
when trials stretch long
and feel heavy upon my shoulders.
In your hands, even purgatory-like suffering,
when endured in love and obedience
to the Father’s will,
becomes more precious than all the comforts
the world can offer.
Stay with me, Lord, and teach me to see my pain not as wasted
but as a hidden seed of redemption,
united to your Cross for the salvation of souls.
This life, with all its fleeting joys,
is only a pale shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Even the peace of holy places,
the beauty of sacred silence,
cannot compare with the glory that awaits in your presence.
Keep my heart fixed on that promise
so that I do not cling to passing things
but long always for what is eternal.
You remind me, Lord, that life is like a stormy sea:
uncertain, dangerous, and often frightening.
Yet you are the one who calms the waves
and steadies the ship.
Help me to persevere with courage,
remembering that no saint has reached heaven
without crossing through storms.
The road of sacrifice is the path of all who love you.
Beyond Calvary shines Tabor,
the mountain of light and transfiguration.
Teach me to embrace the Cross
with patience and hope,
knowing that every trial borne with you leads to glory.
Strengthen me, O Lord, to walk this path without fear,
from Calvary to Tabor,
from the storm to the eternal calm of your love.
Amen.”
I hope those quotes and sample day give you a feel for this volume. I have now read 22 books in this series from the 25 I believe have ever been in print. And this is one is another excellent volume in the series. I highlighted more sections in this volume than most, but they were also shorter quotes. I was really blessed by this volume I have recommended it to a number of friends, and being the most recent it is easy to pick up a physical or digital copy of it.
I have benefited from every volume I have read in the series and I have now completed most of them. I have now read 22 volumes in this series, and currently working on a twenty-third I can state this is another great offering in the series. I find that some speak to me more than others. I can state I benefited from the month with each person being profiled. If I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to the volume on Joan and some of the others and reread them once I have completed the series, and this would be towards the top of that list.
This is a great read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume, and the series as a whole.
