The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 28, 2025
In the bulletin column two weeks ago, I told you about the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis who died at age 15 in 2006. Saint Carlo was canonized on September 7, 2025. Another saint important to Catholic young adults was also canonized on the same day and at the same Mass, Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Saint Pier Giorgio was born on April 6, 1901 to agnostic parents. His father owned a Socialist newspaper and his mother was an artist of renown. One of her paintings was purchased by the Italian King, Victor Emmanuel III.
Even as a child, Saint Pier Giorgio had a passion to help the poor. He once gave his own shoes to a poor child and he often gave away his bus fare to beggars and then had to walk or run home.
As he grew older, he began to teach that charity was not enough, that we need social justice so that people don’t have to be poor. Perhaps his father’s agnostic socialist leanings inspired him, but Pier Giorgio found great hope in Catholic Social teaching. He was once arrested in Rome during the 1921 protest at the Young Catholic Workers Congress.
At his graduation, his father offered him a car or money. He took the money and promptly gave it to the poor.
Pier Giorgio was an avid hiker and mountain climber. He was a good swimmer.
At age 24, in 1925, he contracted polio. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died. His final words to his mother were, “May I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.” Thousands of people attended his funeral, the poor and the rich, including many people whom he had helped.
Saint Pier Giorgio has inspired the formation of the “Frassati Society of Young Adult Catholics”, with a chapter here in Philadelphia. These groups help young Catholics to live a holy life and always include evangelization coupled with outdoor rugged activities.
