Everything changed when his parish started adoring the Eucharist continuously 24 out of 24 hours. He is a policeman and is about to get married. Ernesto Piraino's life began to change from there…
It is the story of the life of Father Ernesto Piraino, today a hermit priest, who left behind his police uniform in order to wear his cloister.
Herkules Books recently released a very special book with the title: "From the uniform to the tunic - The story of the policeman who became a priest", the autobiographical work of a priest. young, who, before taking his vows, wore the uniform of the National Police for many years.
Father Ernesto Piraino 42 years old, from the Calabrian region of Italy, the son of an immigrant family, currently lives in a hermitage in a small house with a vegetable garden in the city of Belvedere Marittimo in the province of Cosenza, in the diocese of San Marco Argentano -Scalea, which is 700 meters above sea level. It was an isolated house in the woods of Pollino, from which one could see the clear sea water bathing the shores of Tyrenia.
Raised in a Catholic family, Ernesto had some faith but did not live it to the fullest. In 2006, when Ernesto was working for the Messina Provincial Police Headquarters office and living in Scilla, his parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception began 24-hour continuous Eucharistic adoration. He went there out of curiosity.
A few months earlier, Ernesto had broken up with his girlfriend after a six-year relationship and was about to get married, and was living in a difficult situation; and that day Jesus began to change his life. At the time he did not understand what was happening, but from that moment on, the call of the Eucharist grew stronger and stronger.
As Ernesto continued his ordinary life, Jesus became increasingly indispensable, and unbelievable, he said, “wherever I went, I was in constant Eucharistic adoration.” By digging into Ernesto's heart, Jesus re-establishes minimal order in the uncertainty that arose from a failed marriage, only asking him to trust him and give him some space.
Over the next four years, Ernesto became acquainted with other very beautiful women, but although he got along well with them, he always felt something was missing, and a hidden dissatisfaction in his heart.
Then one day, it was the girl with whom Ernesto had a very close relationship who sensed something was stirring in his soul, and she came to tell him that if his path was to become a priest, you just have to tell her. Thanks to a woman's characteristic sensibility, she understood it before he knew it.
A big change happened in 2010. He talked with the spirit about the calling in his heart, about the growing desire in his heart to dedicate himself to God. He was studying Law, but Ernesto dropped out and began studying theology. In 2011, at the age of 32, he began his seminary training.
For a while, Ernesto continued to work as a police officer. Both a seminarian and a policeman. When he was ordained a priest, all of his police colleagues were present and for him it was a holiday he never imagined. Yesterday a police officer, today a hermit priest.
Is there anything in common that connects the policeman of the past with the priest and hermit of today? Father Ornesto shared, “I have always had a deep sense of justice and over time it has morphed into a vision of the totality of the human person. I was a strict cop, and then I received Mercy and I began to do my duty by looking at criminals with different eyes, like a brother in need, atonement. (...)
That is the path that I continue to believe in and let myself be guided. I learned to see the Face of the Lord in the Eucharist, and then in the face of the brother. The hermit learns to see God in everything. His face followed me during the hours of meditation, in the confessional ministry, in the time dedicated to reception and spiritual direction… However, after that, I regained my energy by immersing myself in stillness. and the serenity of my little Tabor house.”