While much of the international attention of Pope Leo’s first canonization Mass on Sept. 7 focused on the newly named Saint Carlo Acutis, he wasn’t the only young adult raised to the altars that day.
Italian layman Pier Giorgio Frassati has long been esteemed in his native Turin as a model of what has been called “Catholic Action” – in his case, living out the demands of Catholic social teaching and commitment to social justice by raising money for the poor, visiting the sick and impoverished, and ministering to veterans after World War I, all integrated through a life of devotion and prayer.
The outdoorsy and athletic Frassati spent a great deal of his time hiking and mountain climbing, along with developing a love of art, theater, music and literature, especially the poet Dante. As the Italy of his day spiraled into fascism, Saint Pier Giorgio participated in numerous church-sponsored political protests, even though his family had significant financial resources and he could easily have skirted the controversy of getting involved. When he and others were arrested by the violent foot soldiers of the era, he refused to use family connections to evade punishment and went to jail. He became a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and founded a newspaper, “Momento,” which was rooted in the social and economic teachings of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum.”
Studying his letters and writings, it is clear he was influenced not only by the Dominicans, but also by the Jesuits, Salesians and Vincentians. When he died of polio at age 24 on July 4, 1925, thousands of local mourners, many of them destitute, lined the streets as his remains passed by. Today, his relics are interred in Turin’s Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, where the Holy Shroud is also kept.
Before his death, he wrote to his friend Isidoro Bonini, suggesting they make a pact to continue a union in prayer and charity, no matter what may come. Today, multitudes of people have pledged to carry forward this mission by praying daily the Prayer for the Courage to Be Great and doing one act of charity daily.
During his homily at the canonization, Pope Leo said, “Pier Giorgio’s life is a beacon for lay spirituality. For him, faith was not a private devotion, but it was driven by the power of the Gospel and his membership in ecclesial associations. He was also generously committed to society, contributed to political life and devoted himself ardently to the service of the poor.”
He continued, “‘Pier Giorgio said: ‘Around the poor and the sick, I see a light that we do not have.’ He called charity ‘the foundation of our religion’ and, like Carlo, he practiced it above all through small, concrete gestures, often hidden, living what Pope Francis called ‘a holiness found in our next-door neighbors’ (Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, 7).”
Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis and Leo XIV have all noted explicitly that Saint Pier Giorgio’s commitment to God and the Gospel is worthy of emulation. Pope John Paul II famously bestowed on him the nickname “the Man of the Eight Beatitudes.” Pier Giorgio’s most famous motto, “Verso l’alto” is usually translated into English as, “To the heights” – metaphorically connecting his love of mountaineering and striving for natural “peak experiences” with the spiritual yearning for connection with God.
Today, there are Frassati Fellowships all over the nation and world, including local ones in the Camden and Philadelphia region. Most of these organizations focus on helping men and women in their 20s and 30s build community, commit to serve the poor, and explore together the adventure involved in a life of robust and dynamic faith.
As his most famous prayer puts it, “Heavenly Father, Give us the courage to strive for the highest goals, to flee every temptation to be mediocre. Enable us to aspire to greatness. … Free us from the fear of failure.” Only by so doing can human beings hope to escape this valley of tears and scale the most difficult terrain of union with a God whose very definition is gift of Self.
An alumnus of Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill, Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.
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