A Saint and a Friend

On August 3, 2025, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized by Pope Francis as an official saint in the Catholic Church. As a young man who exhibited a profound love for the poor, Pier Giorgio is often referred to as a “Man of the Beatitudes.” He is considered an impactful intercessor for young adults, young men. and athletes. The following short essay is by one of the Confirmation students here at the Co-Cathedral. Each Confirmation student chooses a saint to learn about as part of preparing to receive the sacrament. For more information about this saint, check out the book “The Man of the Beatitudes” by Luciana Frassati Gawronska. 

Pier Giorgio Frassati

The Saint I chose for my Confirmation name is Pier Giorgio Frassati. I first found out about Pier Giorgio Frassati during the covid 19 lockdown with a group of friends. We got together every week on zoom to read his story. He was born in Torino, Italy in 1901 from a wealthy and important family. His parents didn’t go to church, but he went to church every day, receiving communion, and took time out of his day to pray the rosary. He was always observant of what others needed. His parents didn’t know that he regularly went with his friends and gave clothing, money, and food to the poor. Pier Giorgio had a lot of friends and made a group with his friends called “The Sinister Ones”; they prayed, gave to the poor, and they did other things that all of us do like hiking and skiing. One day while visiting a poor and sick man he contracted polio, which would kill him in four days. His parents didn’t notice he was dying, since at the time his grandma was also dying. Then they realized it was too late. The last act he did was write a note asking to give medicine to someone he was taking care of, since he knew that no one else would give that person his medicine. He died shortly after at the age of 24. The day of his funeral, thousands of people showed up and his parents were so surprised, and at that moment they understood they needed to really get to know their son. They had frequently punished him because they thought that he messaged around all day and didn’t study but in reality, he was helping people or praying. This struck his father so much, he tried to piece his son’s life together to learn what he was really like. His son’s story was so meaningful to him that he converted.  

I chose Pier Giorgio because he is a normal boy that went to school and sometimes struggled with school, he had lots of friends, he did sports, like any other kid our age. But at the same time his life was extraordinary. His strong love for Jesus gave him the grace to love others unconditionally. His capacity to help everybody, to put their needs before his was coming from his strong relationship with Jesus that was coming before everything else.  

Giacomo Marini  

Year I Confirmation Candidate