If you are looking for somebody who was young and proud of their faith then there is no better example than Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati!

“To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing.”

“The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you will do nothing, but if you have God as the centre of all your action, then you will reach the goal.”

“When God is with us, we do not need to be afraid.”

Pier Giorgio Frassati was the son of an influential Italian politician and founder of the liberal Italian newspaper La Stampa. He was born in 1901 and grew up with World War I and the rise of Fascism which he campaigned against fervently unafraid of the consequences. He was a keen hiker making regular visits to the mountains near by in Turin.

His father was an agnostic (somebody who neither believes nor rejects the possibility of a God) but this didn’t stop Pier Giorgio Frassati from deepening his faith, a faith which he was more than happy to share with his friends. (Something for us to think about perhaps?). He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Christ truly present in the consecrated host, and would spent whole nights on his knees in the presence of the exposed Body of Christ. Before climbing the mountains he would attend Mass and then upon returning from skiing he would be sure to pay a visit to Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle to give thanks. (This is a great way of thanking God for the wonderful experiences we have in our days. Even if we are unable to make it to a Church do we thank Christ for all our blessings of the day?).

Though Pier Giorgio Frassati came from a wealthy family he would always make a habit of travelling ‘third’ class or economy class on trains. When asked by his friends why he did so he responded, “because there is not a fourth class”. When he was a child a poor mother and child knocked on his house door which he opened. Upon seeing the child with no shoes he took his off and gave them to him. Also a German journalist commented when Pier Giorgio Frassati was with his father at the Italian embassy in Berlin saying:

"One night in Berlin, with the temperature at twelve degrees below zero, he gave his overcoat to a poor old man shivering with cold. His father scolded him, and he replied simply and matter-of-factly: 'But you see, papa, it was cold.'"

This young man is renowned for his hidden charitable deeds, deeds which in one case would result in his premature death. He contracted poliomyelitis, or more commonly known as polio which he contracted on one of his many visits to sick and poor people. Pier Giorgio died on July 4, 1925, at the age of 24.

At his funeral his parents expected a number of significant political figures to attend his funeral. To their surprise what they found were thousands of poor, sick and homeless people lining the streets; people whom they had no idea that their son had helped. It was these very people who then petitioned the Archbishop of Turin to forward his cause to the Vatican to be made a saint. The process was opened in 1932 and he was beatified on May 20, 1990, the step before becoming a saint. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's feast day is July 4.

There is so much we can learn from this man, whether it’s simply thanking God for the blessings of our day or to become more proactive by offering a helping hand to our brothers and sisters, regardless of appearance or social stature. Maybe he prompts us to be more open about our faith to our friends who may or may not be Christian. He shows us the importance of adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and above all, having Christ at the centre of all things that we do. When we do this, we then find Christ more so in other people and in nature.

This being the case, how could we not then appreciate and give thanks for all people and natural beauty as did Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati?