Holiness is within reach

If you take a quick look at any teen magazine, you will be awash with the supposed latest must-haves, latest looks and celebrity gossip: from the best type of shoes, the best hairstyle and hair products, and the must-have accessories, these magazines have it all, or so it would seem. If you are looking for the ‘10 steps to holiness’ and a halo however, then reading these magazines will leave you bitterly disappointed and empty-handed; everything is within reach, but holiness apparently. So if these magazines cannot provide me with a celebrity saturated with holiness, then who can exemplify for me that holiness is within reach and not necessarily at the expense of living an ‘ordinary’ life? Can I be holy and yet have a good time with my friends? The answer is ‘yes’ and I propose to you as a role model the youthful, playful, passionate, and holy figure of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Pier Giorgio was born on 6th April 1901 into the well-known and wealthy Frassati family of in northern . His father, the influential Alfredo Frassati, was the founder of the Italian newspaper, La Stampa, and was for a period of time Italy’s ambassador to Germany, that is until the rise of Mussolini. Pier Giorgio’s mother was a painter and lived a turbulent marriage with her husband, which almost ended with the two parting. The two had one other child, a daughter, called Luciana, with whom Pier Giorgio was very close.

In his short-lived life, Pier Giorgio Frassati was always concerned for others, particularly the poor and the needy. His charity was more often than not executed in secret, never wanting to draw attention to himself. was also important for Pier Giorgio and he was involved actively in the political life of his day.

At the same time, Pier Giorgio seemed to have a great social life and enjoyed drinking and mountain climbing with his friends, though not necessarily at the same time! He even fell in love with a girl and experienced the misery of heartbreak.

At the heart of his life was a profound and deep love for Jesus Christ, particularly in the Blessed Sacrament, but importantly too in the sick and needy individuals whom he served so faithfully. In order to understand Pier Giorgio’s spirituality, one must understand the role adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mass, and the rosary, played in his life. Pier Giorgio had the following to say:

With all the strength of my soul I urge you young people to approach the Communion table as often as you can. Feed on this bread of angels whence you will draw all the energy you need to fight inner battles. Because true happiness, dear friends, does not consist in the pleasures of the world or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we have only if we are pure in heart and mind.

Pier Giorgio was truly a young man in love with Jesus Christ. His faith, far from being a burden or a bore, in fact was the reason for his joy and love for life. His faith enabled him to truly live, to be free from life’s superficialities, and to keep his eye on the ultimate goal, namely life with Christ.

Pier Giorgio was also a mining engineer student, though he struggled most of his life with academia and had to receive extra tuition during his school years. Somehow, he managed to balance his academic studies with his service to those most in need, never neglecting his spiritual life, which sustained him through difficult times.

In 1925 at the young age of 24, Pier Giorgio Frassati passed from this life to the next. It is believed that he contracted polio from one of the individuals he had been tending. His family organised what was meant to be a small funeral with a few dignitaries; what was not anticipated was the outpouring of emotion from local people, particularly by the many sick and poor people whom he had been serving, who lined the streets as his coffin passed by.

Blessed Pope John Paul II had a great love for Pier Giorgio Frassati; their shared love for the mountains and skiing are but only two interests shared in common. What the two share at this current time is that of being declared ‘Blessed’ by the Church. Pope John Paul II beatified Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati on 20th May 1990 in St. Peter’s Square. As with Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Pier Giorgio was beatified alone in his own ceremony. The following is taken from the pope’s homily from the beatification Mass:

Today's celebration invites all of us to receive the message which Pier Giorgio Frassati is sending to the men and women of our day, but especially to you young people, who want to make a concrete contribution to the spiritual renewal of our world, which sometimes seems to be falling apart and wasting away because of a lack of ideals. By his example he proclaims that a life lived in Christ's Spirit, the Spirit of the Beatitudes, is "blessed", and that only the person who becomes a "man or woman of the Beatitudes" can succeed in communicating love and peace to others. He repeats that it is really worth giving up everything to serve the Lord. He testifies that holiness is possible for everyone, and that only the revolution of charity can enkindle the hope of a better future in the hearts of people.

In my mind, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati shares one noticeable and troubling experience with many young people today: parents who are on the brink of separation. His parents were constantly arguing and this pained the young Pier Giorgio. He demonstrates that despite the circumstances in which we might find ourselves, as troubling as they may be, we can see them as opportunities rather than set backs on the path to holiness. Rather than being defeated by the frustrations and upsets he had over his parents’ marriage, Pier Giorgio chose to manifest Christ’s love to those around him, which perhaps seemed lacking in his parents’ relationship.

Often I say to people that the remarkable gift Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati had was the ability to discern where God was calling him on a daily basis in the time and place in which he found himself. Christ was calling out to him in the poor and needy of Turin and he responded wholeheartedly. He brought love and healing where it was needed. By paying the ultimate price, that of dying for the sake of charity, Pier Giorgio in some respects brought healing to his family as his parents never did separate in the end, even though their marriage was never to be blissful.

It is difficult being a young Catholic in twenty-first century Britain, but many of the hardships and choices we face have been shared in some degree by previous generations of young Catholics. Pier Giorgio was confronted with ; today we are confronted by relativism and secularism. The life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati demonstrates that holiness is absolutely within reach, and that it is the absolute must- have in life, despite what any magazine might tell you. As Pope Benedict XVI said to young people at St. Mary’s University College during his visit to the United Kingdom last year:

What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.

Those involved in youth ministry or are responsible for catechising the young, would do well to look at Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the ‘Man of the Beatitudes,’ as Pope John Paul II called him, in greater depth.

Shaun Bailham 5th September 2011 Published in Oremus (Westminster Cathedral magazine), October edition