The desire that Padre Pio had to form Prayer Nests of children stemmed from the very Heart of Jesus: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16).

In 1975, during a mission in the schools of Ischia, a teacher told us about her first encounter as a child with Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, where she had gone with her mother. Stroking her head, Padre Pio smiled and said: “Children… children will save the world!”—an expression he repeated on similar occasions.

This is the same idea expressed by Our Lady at Fatima, where she asked three children to offer themselves to God and to pray the rosary to obtain peace for the world. Padre Pio’s spirituality is entirely aligned with that of Fatima: the offering of one’s life, the Eucharist, and the recitation of the rosary. It was therefore natural that, alongside the Prayer Groups of adults, he would ask his first collaborators to establish Prayer Nests for children.

In the early issues of La Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, there are numerous accounts of these initiatives being carried out in various parts of Italy. The initiative, led by Dr. Guglielmo Sanguinetti, came to an end with his passing in 1954.

In the 1960s, the Servant of God Father Pio Dellepiane of the Minims, a kindred spirit of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, with the support of Marchesa Degli Oddi, began bringing groups of children from San Giovanni Rotondo to the Capuchin church. However, due to his fragile health and numerous commitments, he was unable to do more.

In 1972, he asked our Founders to carry out this project: “It is urgent,” he said with deep sorrow, “it’s already too late…” They heeded the call of their spiritual father, and thus the first Prayer Nests of the Armata Bianca were born, now spread throughout the world.