Thought for the Day – 4 July – Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and The Memorial of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati OP (1901-1925) “Man of the Eight Beatitudes”
Pier Giorgio Frassati smiled and laughed so freely that he was called “an explosion of joy.” He whistled and sang loudly and hopelessly out of tune. He loved playful teasing and practical jokes. In his early 20’s, he was the picture of strength and health, leading groups of friends into the Alps to scale mountain peaks.
His ready laughter and adventurous spirit were fountains that sprang from a well of holiness. Pier Giorgio was so filled with virtue, that Saint John Paul II, who beatified him in 1990, called him the “Man of the Beatitudes.” Joy of life and love of God coursed readily through his veins. Could anyone who knew him in the sunshine of his youth, in the early twentieth century in Turin, Italy, have believed that he would die before the age of 25?
“At an age in which the passions bubble in the hearts of young people and threaten to break all bounds, Pier Giorgio concentrated his vital forces and kept them in balance.
Day by day, in front of God and men, he learned to conquer himself and to master himself. It would have to be said that, without realising it, he was preparing for leadership, for it is true that, in order to know how to lead the others, first of all one must know how to lead oneself.
The designs of God are incomprehensible, because He sees things from so much higher and so much further than we – both in general and in particular.
But it is permissible to think that, by calling to Himself Pier Giorgio, in the moment in which so many had placed their hopes in him, God intends that his unexpected death, which has caught us unawares, may put in relief, the beauty of his life and that it may attract the attention of you, the young people who will be able to take of inspiration from it.”
Father Martin Stanislaus Gillet, OP, Master-General of the Order of the Friars Preachers, and the man who enrolled Pier Giorgio into the Dominicans
“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.”
St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), during the beatification of Blessed Pier
Prayer to Walk the Path of the Beatitudes
By Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini (1924-2011)
Archbishop of Turin
O Father,
You gave to the young Pier Giorgio Frassati
the joy of meeting Christ
and of living his faith
in the service of the poor and the sick,
through his intercession,
may we, too, walk the Path of the Beatitudes
and follow the example of his generosity,
spreading the spirit of the Gospel in society.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati,
“Man of the Eight Beatitudes”
Pray for Us!
LET US PRAY:
PRAYER FOR THE CANONISATION
OF BLESSED PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI
O merciful God,
Who through the perils of the world
deigned to preserve by Your grace
Your servant the blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
pure of heart and ardent of charity,
listen, we ask You, to our prayers, and
if it is in Your designs that he be glorified by the Church,
show us Your will,
granting us the graces we ask of You,
through his intercession,
by the merits of Jesus Christ, Our Lord,
in union with the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
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