Padre pio and five rules

 Padre pio did this principally by promoting five rules for spiritual growth: daily examination of conscience, Communion, spiritual reading, meditation and weekly confession.

Regarding daily meditation, he counseled two periods of at least half an hour each day, morning and evening. These were to be times of reflection and recollection on biblical subjects such as the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. He advised to begin with a prayer, asking for the grace to meditate well and for the intercession of Our Lady and all the saints. Then, to “meditate thoroughly on the subject in all its aspects,” before moving on to resolutions, so as to eliminate defects and promote virtue. We should also pray for the graces we need and offer up our time of meditation to God. 

St. Pio regarded meditation as the key to progress in the spiritual life and the transformation of the soul in Christ. To make this fruitful, he encouraged a thorough study of the Bible and spiritual books in general, stating: “If the reading of holy books has the power to convert worldly men into spiritual persons, how very powerful must such reading be in leading spiritual men and women to greater perfection.

Nina Campanile in her diary: ' padre pio explained that the principal means of Christian perfection are: the choice of a saint and learned director, frequentation of sacraments, meditation, spiritual readings.' 'He used to say: 'the sacred argumentations need always to be sustained by sacred examples.' 'He wanted that we meditate twice a day, morning and evening.'

'He insisted a lot on daily meditation "Even with the face on the ground, like Jesus did in Gethsemane."

"It is important to meditate, even if there is no emotion involved."