Padre Pio’s parents were small landowners who managed to support their family through a farmhouse and several plots of land in Piana Romana, a rural area about 2 km from the village. Working the land involved all members of the Forgione family, including young Francesco, to whom Grazio entrusted a few sheep to look after.

To reach Piana Romana from the Castello district, one must follow a path surrounded by greenery that still retains its peaceful and rustic charm. As a child, Padre Pio walked this path daily to take the sheep to pasture, and even as a young friar returning to Pietrelcina, he continued to visit these places of his childhood regularly.

Along the way, little Francesco—and later young Friar Pio—would often pray the Holy Rosary. It is from this beloved habit of his that the path takes the name by which it is now known to millions of devotees around the world: The Way of the Rosary.