MANILA - Filipino devotees will soon get a chance to venerate the heart of of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.

Fr. Joselin Gonda, rector of the National Shrine of Saint Pio in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, announced that the relic of Saint Padre Pio will be in the Philippines for at least 20 days, from October 6 to 26, 2018.

The priest said the relic of the saint was initially set to arrive in the Philippines in September to coincide with the centenary of the appearance of stigmata on his body.

However, the plan did not push through as the initial date of visit will coincide with the Italian bishops' assembly in San Giovanni Rotondo, in southern Italy, where the shrine that houses Padre Pio's remains and relics is located.

"We are blessed to have this heart relic of St. Padre Pio," Fr. Gonda said in a Facebook post.

"We hope and plan that it can visit Manila for Luzon, Cebu for the Visayas and Davao for Mindanao for 3 days each."

Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy, is one of the most venerated saints of the Catholic Church.

On September 20, 1918, while hearing confessions, the stigmata, believed to be the wounds of Jesus Christ, started appearing on his hands and feet.

By 1919, word began to spread about Padre Pio's stigmata and people came from far away to examine him.

He died in 1968 and was canonized as a saint by John Paul II.