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"Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati"
“In this trying time that our country is going through we Catholic young
adults have a serious duty to fulfill: our self-formation. We, who by
the grace of God are Catholics... must steel ourselves for the battle we
shall certainly have to fight to fulfill our program and give our country,
in the not too distant future, happier days and a morally healthy society,
but to achieve this we need constant prayer to obtain from God that grace
without which all our prayers are useless; organization and discipline to be
ready for action at the right time; and finally, the sacrifice of our
passion and of ourselves, because without that we cannot achieve our aim.”
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) The life of the man or woman in
the imitation of Christ is what young people today are looking for; a role
model for young adults of the third millennium. Young Adults will find
someone to identify with in this vibrant young outdoorsman who combined a
deep love for Christ, a desire to serve the needy, and a mission to imbue
society and politics with Christian ideals.
Pier Giorgio Frassati was born in Turin, Italy on Holy Saturday, April 6,
1901. His father, an agnostic, was the founder and director of the liberal
newspaper, La Stampa, and was influential in Italian politics, serving a
term as senator, and later was Italy's ambassador to Germany. He spent the
flower of his youth between two world wars when Italy was in social ferment
and Fascism was on the rise.
Pier Giorgio developed a deep spiritual life which he never hesitated to
share with his friends. In 1918 he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society
and dedicated much of his spare time to serving the sick and the needy. He
decided to become a mining engineer so he could "serve Christ better among
the miners," as he told a friend. His studies, however, did not keep him
from social activism.
“To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady
struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing.” In 1919, he joined
the Catholic Student Federation and the Popular Party, a political
organization which promoted the Catholic Church's teachings. He even
entertained the idea of merging the Catholic Student Federation with the
Catholic Workers' Organization.
"Charity is not enough: we need social reform," he used to say, as he worked
for both. He also gave his time to help establish a Catholic daily newspaper
Momento which was based on the principles of Pope St. Leo XIII's encyclical
on social and economic matters, Rerum Novarum.
In late June 1925 Pier Giorgio was afflicted by an acute attack of
poliomyelitis which doctors later speculated he caught from the poor and
sick whom he tended. Neglecting his own health because his grandmother was
dying, his illness was too advanced for anyone to treat when doctors
discovered how weak he was. Pier Giorgio died on July 4, 1925, at the age of
24.
His family expected Turin's elite and political figures to come to offer
their condolences and attend the funeral; they naturally expected to find
many of his friends there as well. They were surprised, however, to find the
streets of the city lined with thousands of mourners as the cortege passed
by. Those who mourned his death most were the poor and needy whom he had
served so unselfishly for seven years; many of these, in turn, were
surprised to learn that the saintly young man they new only as "Fra
Girolamo" came from such an influential family. It was these poor people who
petitioned the Archbishop of Turin to begin the cause for canonization. The
process was opened in 1932 and he was beatified on May 20, 1990. Blessed
Pier Giorgio Frassati's feast day is July 4th
For more information on Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, check out the
Frassati USA website at
http://www.frassatiusa.org
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