From the time I was a little girl, I loved learning about the saints. I loved the idea that someone like me, a sinner, could live out God’s plan in their everyday life. They were my example of how to live my life for God. As I grew up, more and more amazing saints came to my attention. One such saint (or almost saint), was Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Born in 1901, Blessed Pier Giorgio was born into a wealthy family in Turin, Italy. His parents were not religious, so his grandmother made sure that he attended church each Sunday. He loved the Holy Eucharist, and when he was a teenager he would sneak out of the house to attend morning mass before joining his family for breakfast. He was a great athlete, often spending his weekends mountain climbing with friends. He would make bets with his friends, and if he won, his friends would have to attend mass, adoration or confession with him… he almost always won. He also spent a lot of his time with the poor and the sick in his city. He would bring them food, clothes and medicine every week, and he considered many of them his close friends. When he passed away at the age of 24, the whole town attended his funeral, much to his parents’ surprise. Saint John Paul II called him, “The Man of the Eight Beatitudes”.
Verso l’Alto, was one of his many quotes. It means, “To the Heights”. While many people thought that he was talking about reaching the top of the mountains, Pier Giorgio meant that we need to always be reaching higher; reaching and striving for God’s greatness.
Blessed Pier Giorgio is my favorite saint, and I have shared my love of him with my youth, and now they are also in awe of this great man. He has become the patron saint of our youth groups, and we pray to him every week. He is a wonderful example of how we can share our faith, and live out our beliefs in our everyday lives.
~ Noëlle, Youth Ministry Coordinator
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