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Be like Frassati!

Author: Aleksandra Jędrzejczak,
"Love One Another!" 40/2017
History

He was barely 24 years old, but it was enough to become a saint. John Paul II beatified him in 1990, holding him up as a model for young people to follow.

Recalling Pier Giorgio, the Pope said: “When I was young, I too benefited from the positive influence of his example. And as a student, I was impressed by the power of his Christian witness”. Who was this saint who was an inspiration for the young Karol Wojtyla?

“Perhaps it was Jesus who sent him to us?”

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born in Turin on April 6, 1901. His mother was a talented painter. His father, Alfredo, came from an intelligentsia family which founded the magazine “La Stampa” and which quickly became one of the most widely-read periodicals in Italy.

Even as a child, Pier stood up in the defense of anyone who was being maltreated. He became angry when his companions or his sister treated anyone unfairly. When Pier Giorgio was four, a beggar holding a barefoot child in her arms rang at the Frassati family’s door. Seeing this, the boy quickly took off his shoes and socks, gave them to the woman, and hurriedly closed the door so that no one in the house would prevent him from performing this good deed.

On another occasion a wretch clothed in rags came to the door. He said that he was hungry and asked for a couple of lira. Pier Giorgio’s father noticed that the man was drunk, so he didn’t give the fellow anything, and actually hurled a few harsh words in his direction. At this the young Frassati, who had witnessed the event, burst into tears and ran to his mother crying “Mommy, a hungry man came to the door, and Daddy didn’t give him anything to eat”. And he added with concern: “What if it was the Lord Jesus who sent him to us?”. His mother told her son: “run after him and bring him home, and we’ll give him something to eat”.

“He is the King of Kings”

In June of 1911 Pier and his sister Luciana, who was a year younger, received their First Communion. The priest who prepared the children for the sacrament remembered: “Pier sometimes asked me to tell him something about the Lord Jesus. While I was talking he would radiate joy, and the phrase »That’s so beautiful!« would spring from his lips. Or other times, depending on what kind of story it was, his face would be shrouded in sadness, and great tears would stream from his eyes, which never perturbed or embarrassed him”.

“One might not appreciate Pier Giorgio’s love for his neighbor, piety, and intelligence, but his purity beamed into the eyes of even the least observant” (Luciana Frassati)

Pier’s first experience of meeting God was very solemn. When a priest carrying the Blessed Sacrament was passing the chapel, and one of the sisters said: “That’s our Lord passing by. Let’s kneel down like we ought to before a king”, Pier called out audibly: “He is the King of Kings”.

Pier Giorgio never worried about what other people said about him – throughout his life he always applied just one rule: What will God think of me?

Severe upbringing

The boy’s father was convinced that one day Pier would run “La Stampa” in his place. But when it turned out that his son had little talent for this kind of work, the disappointed father began to treat him very coldly, and humiliated him at every opportunity.

His mother, too, raised her children very severely and lacked tender maternal love. When Pier was late for dinner, she said: “Well then, it’s always the same… your head in the clouds. You always remember about mass, but not about family dinner…”. The family home gave him nothing that would develop his faith. When his father saw him one evening kneeling at his bed with his rosary in his hand, he didn’t react at first, but later expressed his disapproval, telling their pastor “What the heck have you done to my son?”

Nonetheless, Pier was not only completely obedient to his parents, he loved them as they were. He took their harsh treatment patiently, and despite the fact that he was constantly criticized, he took it humbly, and always treated his parents with great respect and love. He suffered greatly for the fact that his father was not a believer, so he prayed for him regularly.

God in first place

His mother enrolled him in a middle school run by the Jesuits. From that time on Pier Giorgio went to communion daily. At the school there were religious organizations which he became very deeply involved with (among others he was active in the Holy Sacrament Association and the Apostolate of Prayer). He wrote down the names of people who needed help in a special notebook, especially the unemployed, and helped them systematically. In order to help people who were looking for work, he asked his father to place announcements in “La Stampa”.

When the First World War broke out, Pier Giorgio enrolled himself in a course of basic agricultural work, so that if it became necessary, he could take the place of the agricultural workers, who were drafted into the army.

In May of 1918, despite his family’s fears, he passed his high school final exams with very good results. Mass, prayer, help for the poor and suffering – these were the things that now filled Pier’s days. But he also found time for studies. From his childhood he had dreamed of becoming a priest. But he understood that his entrance into the seminary against the will of his parents would be too great a shock for them. So he determined to become a mining engineer to be able to help people who worked hard in this profession, and to evangelize them.

He witnessed to his faith proudly. “If you put God in the first place in your life, you will achieve victory” – he told his colleagues. Whenever he passed a church, he would always cross himself respectfully and often entered to pray. This is what Fr. Marian Frassati, the vicar of the Pallone parish said about him: “Greeting the church from the outside was never enough for him. Whenever he had a free moment, he went inside, knelt down, and prayed fervently, and I had to shake him vigorously to get him to finally stand up”. When he was hiking in the mountains and reached the destination he had set out for, he would kneel down and sing a hymn or other religious song, and those accompanying him would gladly join in with him. His faith in and love for God were apparent in almost every one of his letters. To his friend Almanzo he wrote: “I lead a monotonous life, but from day to day I recognize ever more specifically what a great grace it is from God that I am a Catholic. Oh, how poor and unhappy are people who have no faith. Life without faith, without this heritage which we must always defend, isn’t life, it’s vegetation. We must not vegetate. Despite the illusions surrounding us, we must always remember that we possess the truth, the faith, and the hope to reach our true homeland. That’s why let’s reject feeling sadness which can only be found where true faith is absent”.

Prayer

Pier Giorgio was a man of prayer. He went to sleep praying and got up early to have time for a conversation with God. In many of his letters he asked for prayer for himself and promised others that he would pray for them: “I implore you to pray for me a lot. I really need it in order to ask God for His grace which would permit me to accomplish my plans… God will send me the progress I desire only in answer to prayers”. Every day was an endless dialog with God: during mass, at adoration, while reading Holy Scripture, or while praying the rosary, which was one of his favorite forms of prayer, and which he prayed often when he visited the Marian shrine of Oropa; when he was out for a walk, while riding the tram or train, as well as in the evening at his kneeler. He would show his rosary saying: “I always carry my last will in my pocket”. He encouraged others to pray the rosary as well. His sister remembered: “We were off on a hiking trip to Lake Mucrone one time and spending the night at a hostel somewhere along the way. We arrived tired to death. We had barely stretched ourselves out on the cots, Anna Maria Banzattie and I, when Pier Giorgio reminded us: »Now we’ll pray our rosary«. We tried to pray the rosary with him, albeit without much enthusiasm, but we gave up very quickly entrusting our prayers to his solitary voice.

Pier Giorgio belonged to a nighttime adoration group that he went to joyfully. While returning home, he beamed with happiness, humming a Eucharistic song to himself. In saying good-bye to his friends, instead of the usual “good-bye”, he would say: “Praise Jesus”.

“No person can be left in need”

From his earliest years Pier Giorgio was particularly sensitive to poverty and misery. As a young boy he once told his friends: “No person can be left in need”. And sure enough, if someone needed help, Pier immediately stepped into action. He often gave or helped more than was expected. He sought out people who needed help, and in order not to forget anyone, he kept notes. When he promised something, he always kept his word.

“If it weren’t for my duties, I would love to spend every day in the mountains, breathing in the pure air, and marveling at the greatness of the Creator” (Pier Giorgio Frassati)

When he was still in high school he enrolled himself in the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. This group organized charitable activities on behalf of the poor. To the question: “How can you go into those hovels with a smile when an incredible stench attacks your nose and makes you choke?”, he answered by citing the Gospel: “Whatever you do for one of the least of these, you do for me”.

Despite the well-being that he could surround himself with in his family home, Pier Giorgio chose poverty. It once happened that during a particularly frigid cold-spell, he returned home without his coat or shoes, because he had given them to some poor person. He tried to find work for the unemployed, he brought doctors and priests to the sick, and tried to help people into hospitals. He helped children from broken homes, and people who were caught up in crime. He provided support for several orphaned girls at the convent of the sisters of the Immaculate Conception. At the bookstores he bought missals, Gospels, or the books About Following Christ, giving the addresses of the people who needed to receive these works. He distributed books to his poor friends who studied with him, paid their schools fees, and arranged for tutoring for some of them.

Christ’s words about love for one’s neighbor were a principle of life for Pier. Pier wrote St. Paul’s Hymn of Love on a card and attached it to the door of his room, so as always to have it readily in view. He said: “I see a distinct light around the poor or a person afflicted with misfortune that doesn’t appear around us”.

Pier Giorgio didn’t stop at material support for the poor: He knew well that sometimes it was enough to spend some time with them and just listen; it sufficed to give them the feeling that someone is close to them; to get them out of that greatest of miseries that they are subject to – the misery that they are called to a life of contempt and abandonment. He always managed to comfort distraught people politely and selflessly, to inspire them with hope and give them courage. In the most difficult situations he was never scandalized nor showed surprise.

Pier Giorgio never worried about what other people said about him – throughout his life he always applied just one rule: What will God think of me? When he knew that he was working for God, nothing could restrain him: neither ridicule, nor the surprise of someone who knew him and saw him pulling a cart with furniture for the poor.

Love for the Eucharist

The Eucharist stood at the center of Pier’s spiritual life. From the moment he understood what the Holy Mass is, he cherished and loved it. “Many times”, his teacher Antonio Fossati explained, “I went on trips to the mountains with Pier Frassati. On every trip he amazed all of us with his physical and moral strength, because he absolutely wanted to reach the intended destination without eating anything, to be able to go to communion without breaking the communion fast. He was completely unconcerned about other people’s opinions. His total sincerity amazed and bolstered everyone.

Holy Communion helped Pier face up to the challenges of every new day. He encouraged people: “Take this bread of the angels every day, and in it you will find the strength to fight internal struggles, struggles with passions and with every kind of adversity, because Jesus Christ promised eternal life and the necessary grace to reach it to those who feed themselves on the Holy Eucharist. And when that Eucharistic flame consumes you completely, you will be able to thank the God who called you with your entire consciousness, so that you can serve Him; and you will rejoice in a peace that those who are happy in the eyes of the world have never known before. Neither the world’s amusements nor earthly things offer true happiness, but peace of conscience will come only when our thoughts and hearts are pure”.

Purity

Luciana writes: “One might not appreciate Pier Giorgio’s love for his neighbor, piety, and intelligence, but his purity beamed into the eyes of even the least observant. This was his most »visible« virtue. It characterized his entire being and it was not overshadowed even by his modesty which was an innate virtue, higher and better than ordinary bashfulness”.

“I see a distinct light around the poor or a person afflicted with misfortune that doesn’t appear around us” (Pier Giorgio Frassati)

Pier’s letters to his friends also bear witness to the purity that permeated his life. From among the opinions expressed by his confessors, it’s worthwhile to quote the words of the pastor of Forte: “It won’t divulge any secret if I say that in August of 1924 Pier Giorgio was just as innocent as he was at the moment of his baptism”. His friends couldn’t remember any conversation during which any inappropriate word came out of his mouth. Nor did they ever note that even one of his many numerous jokes violated any sense of purity in the least measure.

Pier had a naturally happy temperament. Wherever he found himself there would always have to be much laughter. Few people knew that he had more reasons to be sad than many other people, but he never let on to people that anything was troubling him. He resolved that he would gain his friends for God through joy.

Love for the mountains

From his childhood Pier loved sports and getting out into the fresh air. He had an ideal predisposition for the outdoors, having a strong physique and good health. As a small child he often played soccer. He was fascinated with cycling, which gave him access to the amazingly beautiful landscapes of the Alpine foothills. When he rode down a steep slope, he sang in full voice, reveling in the wonderful trip. He was a good equestrian, as well as an able kayaker.

Pier’s greatest passion was mountaineering. He loved spending time in the mountains climbing the peaks or skiing. He often wrote letters to his friends about his great love of mountaineering: “Every day I’m more excited about the mountains. I am carried away by their allure. I want to get to know them better and better, climb the most inaccessible peaks, and savor the pure joy that can only be felt on the mountains’ heights… If it weren’t for my duties, I would love to spend every day in the mountains, breathing in the pure air, and marveling at the greatness of the Creator”.

The most beautiful day

After his friend died of tuberculosis, Pier wrote: “Death is an amazing mystery and it doesn’t differentiate between people. One day it will approach me, and in a short time will change my body into dust. But beyond the body exists the soul, and we must concentrate all our strength to stand before God’s Tribunal without sin. From today on, I will make small preparations for death every day, so as not to be unprepared for that moment, so that I won’t have to regret that the beautiful years of my youth did not benefit my soul”.

Many of the other things that he said during his life testify to the depth of his spiritual maturity: “The day of my death will be the most beautiful day of my life”. And that death arrived very quickly. At the age of 24, Pier Giorgi caught a severe case of polio from one of the poor with whom he worked. Polio was still untreatable in those days, and he died on July 4, 1925.

The news of Pier’s death circulated quickly throughout Turin. People came in great crowds to his funeral and filed past his casket in an endless procession. Many of the people in attendance were from among the poor people whom Pier had cared for. It was repeated from person to person: “He was a saint”. The words that the angel spoke after Christ’s resurrection were inscribed on his tombstone: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”.

Pope Francis characterized him like this: “He gave them far more than material goods. He gave himself by giving his time, his words and his capacity to listen. He served the poor very quietly and unassumingly. […] He truly lived out the Gospel”. Noting Pier’s many positive qualities, the Holy Father encouraged the youth: “Be like Frassati!”.

Source: https://loamagazine.org/archive/2017/2017-40/be-like-frassati

The article was published with the permission from "Love One Another!" in May 2021.

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