Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

With the canonization of this role-model individual only around the corner (along with his ties to the Dominicans!), we thought it important to help all find out more about him!

Keep an eye out in the Church also for banners about him and his life, as well as new leaflets about him too!

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was born in Turin, Italy, on 6 April, 1901. While his life was full, it was not long, and he met his death at the tender age of 24. Many years later at his beatification ceremony, Pope St John Paul II bestowed on him the title 'Man of the Eight Beatitudes' in honour of the exemplary life he lived. How did this young Italian come to earn such a lofty recognition? How did he reach the heights of sanctity in so short a time? With the eight beatitudes as our guide, we will journey through some of the moments of heroic virtue that transformed this young Italian man into a saint.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

While born into a prosperous family, the young Pier Giorgio Frassati was not ensnared by riches. He was the son and heir to a large family fortune that included his father's newspaper empire and his family's countryside villa. Yet Pier Giorgio did not become puffed up by his family's status; instead, he gave away his own possessions for the benefit of others. One story illustrates this well. When Pier Giorgio was four years old, a woman and child came to the Frassati home to beg for alms. Pier Giorgio opened the door, and, seeing that the child was barefoot, he took off his own shoes and socks and gave them to the poor child instead. He then closed the door so no one would know what he had done. From a young age he showed this great willingness to serve others- even if that meant impoverishing himself. In this way he demonstrates the 'poverty' or 'littleness' of spirit that would go on to mark the rest of his life.

Blessed are those who Mourn

Blessed Pier Giorgio had a dream to serve one of society's most disadvantaged groups of people: miners. The men who worked in Italy's mines had a tough and dangerous existence. Pier Giorgio was not deterred to work with such hard characters; if anything, the prospect of doing some good in their lives greatly attracted him. After graduating from school, he entered Turin's Polytechnic University to study mechanical engineering. While never very studious, Pier Giorgio worked hard to pass his exams as he knew this was the road he needed to take to achieve his dream. All this would seem in vain, however, when he learned one day that his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps in the newspaper business. An employee of Alfredo Frassati was delegated the task to deliver the news to his son. With tears in his eyes Pier Giorgio asked, "Will this please my father?". When the employee assured him that it would, Pier Giorgio replied, "Tell him I accept". There is no doubt that Pier Giorgio mourned the loss of his dream to work with the miners, but out of love and obedience to his father he was willing to make a truly heroic sacrifice for what he considered a greater good.

Blessed are the Meek

What is it to be meek? Firstly, meekness is not weakness. It is the choice of the path of patience and restraint over the path of violence and wrath. This is true strength, a strength that Jesus modelled so perfectly for us in the humble acceptance of His Passion and Death. The virtue of meekness was also present in the heart of Pier Giorgio who chose not to be dominated by anger and vengeance. When war broke out in Europe in 1914, this virtue would be put to the test. At that time, Italy was divided between those who supported the position of entering the war and those who were against it. The Frassatis sided with neutrality, and their newspaper, La Stampa, adopted the same stance. Pier Giorgio and his schoolmates suffered for their views, particularly following Italy's decision to enter the war. One day, an angry classmate shouted abuse at Pier Giorgio and his friend Camillo, calling them "traitors". Camillo threw a few punches at the boy, but Pier Giorgio restrained himself and refused to get involved. Far from being a coward, he later revealed his inner meekness by saying that it was unjust to fight with two against one.

Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

During his time in school and university, Blessed Pier Giorgio was active in a number of political and social circles. One group he was especially involved with was the Italian Popular Party. Later called the 'Catholic Party', Pier Giorgio joined its ranks in 1920 and was actively involved in their election campaign a year later. He put up posters, engaged in debates, and canvassed in the factories and offices around the city. He yearned for justice and knew in his heart that this could only become a reality if the country's decision makers were guided by their conscience and by Christian ideals. Ultimately, however, Pier Giorgio would experience pain and disappointment when the Catholic Party elected to join Mussolini's first coalition government in 1922. This compromise in the direction of fascism was devastating to Pier Giorgio who stood firmly on the side of faith, freedom, and conscience. Not shying away from sharing his convictions, he later wrote to a friend, "it is better to stand alone, but with a clean conscience than to stand with all the rest, but with a great stain on our conscience".

Blessed are the Merciful

Mercy is a Divine attribute. Justice is to give someone what they deserve; mercy gives them not what they deserve, but what they need. Jesus Christ came, not because we deserved salvation, but because God loved us, and we had no way to reach Heaven without Him. Blessed Pier Giorgio imitated our Saviour by extending God's mercy to those around him. He poured himself out to his family and his friends, giving them his time, his talents, and his belongings. He was especially merciful towards the poor. He visited a number of poor families each week to bring them material assistance in the form of bread and clothes, and spiritual support by distributing copies of the Gospel or The Imitation of Christ. Did Pier Giorgio find it easy to give so much of himself to others? Not always. He once said, "I feel like I am someone drowning who must try to find the strength to keep on swimming". While it was often difficult to go the extra mile, Pier Giorgio knew it was worth every step, for there is no deeper satisfaction in this life than to love with God's heart.

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Among Pier Giorgio's friends was a girl named Laura Hidalgo. She was the daughter of a Spanish diplomat. While not very pretty, she was intelligent, kind-hearted, and possessed a rich faith. Pier Giorgio fell in love with Laura and dreamed of one day marrying her. One obstacle, however, stood in the way of their relationship: his parents' approval. Pier Giorgio knew that his father and mother would not approve of Laura who was not from the same social class as their son. He also wanted to avoid putting any unnecessary strain on his parents' marriage, even going so far as to say, "to destroy one family in order to create another would be absurd and is not even worth thinking about". For these reasons, Pier Giorgio made the heart-breaking decision not to pursue Laura. While this situation is hard for us to fully understand, it reveals the nobility and purity of Pier Giorgio's heart. He remained very respectful towards Laura and earnestly tried to conform his heart to his convictions, not allowing himself to flirt with a dream that wasn't to become a reality. In the purity of his heart, he transformed his feelings for her into something also very precious: "a respectful bond of Christian friendship".

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Adelaïde and Alfredo Frassati had a difficult marriage. This weighed heavily on Pier Giorgio and his sister Luciana. In the biography of her beloved brother, Luciana spoke of the tension that surrounded the family dinner table. For her mother, Adelaïde, this was "the saddest hour of the day". The relationship between the two parents only soured further as time went on; by the end of Pier Giorgio's short life, they were actually on the verge of separation. Having tried his best to appease their marriage difficulties, there was little more Pier Giorgio could do. This fate appeared to be sealed on 30 June 1925 when Pier Giorgio began to suffer from the illness that would eventually claim his life. Having contracted a virulent form of poliomyelitis (many believe he caught this disease from serving among the poor), the young Blessed's condition deteriorated quickly. The disease was so far advanced that the doctors could do very little for him. In the evening of Saturday 4 July, Pier Giorgio left this world to be received into heavenly light. The Frassati family were in shock that their son's life had ended so unexpectedly. Just like St Therese, however, the work that Pier Giorgio would now do from Heaven was to descend miraculously "like a shower of roses". His death, far from driving another wedge in his parents relationship, eventually brought the pair closer together and saved their marriage.

Blessed are those who are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake

This last beatitude has a particular resonance in the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio who faced insults and contempt for the path he had chosen. As we have seen, Pier Giorgio poured his life out in service of others: he worked with the poor, he gave away his possessions to friends and strangers, and he obeyed the will of his father and mother above his own. But these choices were not often understood by those around him- particularly his family. In fact, this misunderstanding was to become a personal cross for Pier Giorgio. While it was mainly the young man's humility that convinced him to keep his good deeds hidden from others, he knew there was little point in speaking about his endeavours to his parents who saw him as a time-waster and their "dear big oaf". Following the Blessed's death, however, his family would re-evaluate these opinions as they witnessed the enormous crowd that turned up to their son's funeral. Hearing the many testimonies of how Pier Giorgio had touched their lives, the Frassatis were to realise that they hardly knew their son at all. They had failed to understand his heart. But they were to learn- along with countless others- what God had always understood and now chose to reveal to the world.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati pray for us!

Canonization date: 3 August 2025.