Lettere (1906-1925)

by Pier Giorgio Frassati

"So what did he do to become a saint? What miracles did he work?" These are the questions one often hears about the life of Pier Giorgio Frassati. For Catholics who associate sainthood with miracles and spiritual phenomena, the story of a young man who lived an ordinary life seems rather... well, ordinary. And at first glance, that is what it was: days that revolved around a routine of home, school and friends; weekends spent skiing in the mountains or swimming at the beach. Many of Pier Giorgio s letters and postcards are filled with the humdrum recitation of details concerning exams taken, tourist sites visited, trains missed, and even greetings to the family pets. His was a life like millions of others, even like ours: it was very ordinary. Or was it? From the first letter written to his father at the age of five, to the last reminder to a friend scrawled with a paralyzed hand as he lay on his deathbed at the age of twenty-four, Pier Giorgio s strong faith shines forth brightly. The child s promise that I ll pray to Baby Jesus for you grows throughout the years into a crescendo of blessing and spiritual encouragements until it reaches a shout of Long life Christ the King! in manhood. Frequent references Siena intermingle with his own thoughts about peace, prayer, friendship, charity, family life on each and life with God forever in Heaven. His personal mission to the poor is his fervent love of country and his hatred for tyranny and injustice. Pier Giorgio was a prophet, and more than that: he was a saint. And in these Letters, he shows us that it is possible for us to become saints, too. Fr. Timothy E. Deeter.

Genres: Catholic, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian

367 pages, Audio CD

First published July 20, 2009

About the author

The Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, T.O.S.D., was an Italian Catholic social activist, who was a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. He has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. His sister, Luciana Frassati wrote about him after his death.

Frassati was born in Turin into a prominent family, which owned the noted liberal newspaper La Stampa. His father, an agnostic, had founded the newspaper and was active in national politics. He served in the Italian Senate and was later their country's ambassador to Germany. Though an average student, Frassati was known among his peers for his devotion and piety.

Frassati was dedicated to works of social action, charity, prayer and community. He was involved with Catholic youth and student groups, the Apostleship of Prayer, Catholic Action, and was a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. He would often say, "Charity is not enough; we need social reform." He helped establish a newspaper entitled Momento, whose principles were based on Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, Rerum novarum . He joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1918 and spent much of his time helping the poor.

Frassati died in 1925 of poliomyelitis. His family expected Turin's elite and political figures to come to offer their condolences and attend the funeral; they naturally expected to find many of his friends there as well. They were surprised, however, to find the streets of the city lined with thousands of mourners as the cortege passed by, out of the reverence felt for him among the many people he had directly helped during his brief life. He was buried in the family crypt in the Pollone Cemetery of the city.

Reviews

[B Bevans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very profound and insightful. I had heard about Pier Giorgio but only snippets and I decided I wanted to know more about him. I chose this as I had in the past gotten a lot out of the letters of St. Therese and I thought it would be interesting to read the actual words of Pier Giorgio. It's amazing how the letters begin when he is only very young and you can see how he changes throughout the years. I was fascinated at his growing bouts of crises where he took stock and looked at his spiritual life and progress. The letters captured his deep emotion and strong personality. I was fascinated with how they abruptly ended and how the footnotes added a sense of insight as to what was going on beneath, how he sounded almost prophetic, not knowing he would die in just 19 days. What the letters did not really touch on was his profound charity in the sense of him silently visiting the poor, which is what led to him contracting an illness. He was so modest in his charity that he does not mention it much in his letters. He would ask people to forward on donations and things but always ask that his name was left out of it. I feel that I have really gotten to know the saint, almost like a friend through reading these letters and I shall now go on to an actual biography about him. So pleased I read these. I also loved the Sydney World Youth Day 2008 homilies at the end, I remember witnessing it when it took place, how they flew his body to Sydney and all venerated it. Only now after reading this book can I appreciate the depths of what the homily touches upon. One thing that struck me throughout the letters were the constant efforts and hard work and endless exams that he tried so hard for. I didn't think it was in character to be studying that topic but my sister enlightened me that he chose mining and engineering to help the poor and was always focused on the poor. What an incredible sacrificial life and such an inspiration wow.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a long time to work through this, but all of PGF’s letters to his family and friends. Probably only of interest if you have a devotion to him and want to get to know him better through his letters. Some are kind of boring, some mundane and amusing, some profound — but goes to show he was just a normal guy who sought holiness.

[Nick Manfredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read because it’s the words of a young man written from the time he could write throughout his life to an end that you know is coming. The dates at the top of each letter approach the impending death of this young man and give the read a sense of urgency in the reader, yet not in the letters themselves. He did not know. He lived everyday the same way, not because he knew an end was near.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati lived a simple life of radical love. He lived without the skepticism of our time and perhaps without that of his own time. Instead he lived with Christ as an ever-present center pulling him throughout his life and writing with him letters to his friend and family: sometimes of encouragement, sometimes of reprimand, sometimes in jest, always in love.

As a young man who grew up in the secular USA, this book was revelatory and inspiring in that it revealed how a society might function if religion was viewed in a completely different way. Yet it made me ask, “why not now?”

[Anjelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 5 star insightful book of letters to friends and family. Through this all to short life, his example is proof despite our human shortcomings, we are called to be saints. The only reason I gave the current rating is because the Kindle Version was not very easy to read using assistive Technology, specifically voiceover on the iPhone with a Braille display.

[Emily Chambers]

I read most of it but I couldn’t bring myself to finish finish. It needs some context to be more enamoring (is that the right word?) it’s sweet to think of people loving him so much they kept his letters but they didn’t keep their end of it so it was like listening to your friend on the phone - entertaining but you don’t really know what’s happening

[Patrick Broussard · Rating 4 out of 5]

These letters give you a great insight into his thought and what he was passionate about.