I often found it difficult to relate my modern-day struggles to the saints of long ago, until about seven years ago in a high school theology class. We were learning about saints and blesseds of the new age, and the process of canonization. That was when I first heard the name Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Frassati was a man from Italy who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990. He lived not so long ago, he had friends, he enjoyed dancing and sports, and he was wealthy. Frassati was born to a distinguished senator and notable painter in Turin, Italy in 1901. His family held great prominence in the area and they never concerned themselves with anyone below the Italian political elites.
The poor and needy were of no interest to the Frassati parents, but Pier Giorgio felt differently. When he was a young child, a beggar woman and her son came to ask for help at the Frassati residence. The boy was shoeless. Pier Giorgio’s parents turned the woman away with nothing to offer, but the young Pier Giorgio took off his own shoes, giving them to the boy.
He was an avid outdoorsman, taking up hobbies of skiing and hiking. He hiked regularly and brought many friends with him, always allowing time for prayer and even the celebration of Mass at the summit. He also enjoyed social outings. Many times he would challenge young men in bars to a game of billiards, posing the stipulation that if he won, they would have to join him in going to Mass the following day.
Frassati also performed many corporal works of mercy such as serving the poor, widowed, and sick. He provided the poor of his town with meals and clothes, often paid for widows and their children to have a warm place to sleep, and delivered medicine to the homebound. As a result of his work with the sick, he contracted polio. Even in grave illness, he continued to serve, keeping a small ledger book of names at his bedside and instructing his family to bring food or money to those he knew needed it. On the day of his death, he gave his sister the name and address of a man who needed medication delivered to him. He died in 1925 at the age of 24. His funeral was attended by more than 10,000 people, most of whom Frassati had personally served.
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I have a poster of Frassati hanging in my room, his short but powerful mantra written across it: “Verso l’Alto”— “to the heights.” Frassati calls us upward, urging us to never stop reaching for God. I believe that researching his firsthand witness made all the difference for me. Because he lived less than a century ago, his world feels close to ours — his clothes, his writing, his humor and hobbies. We have photographs of him — this relatable man with his walking stick and a pipe in his mouth. Seeing him in such ordinary moments, it dawned on me: I could be a saint. And so could you. All it takes is making the time.
In his short life, Pier Giorgio Frassati served more people than some do in decades. When I learned about him I still wondered, though, why was I so enamored with this new saint? Then it hit me. He still did the things he loved, but included God in every aspect. His life was marked by love and the awareness that since birth, he was blessed with wealth and status. He transformed what could have been a temptation tied to his birthright into a living, breathing embodiment of the Beatitudes, bringing comfort to the poor in spirit and satisfying those who hungered and thirsted. This is undoubtedly why Pope John Paul II bestowed the title of “the Man of the Beatitudes” unto Frassati. Here is the key quality that sets him apart from a majority of young people today, myself included:
He made the time for God.
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And so, I think of him whenever I reach the summit of a challenging hike or include my faith in a meeting of friends. Though I still have a great devotion to many saints of old, I believe Pier Giorgio helps us recognize that even when we’re busy, even in our hobbies, even when we ourselves are afflicted, there is always time for God.
Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized on September 7, 2025 and will be named the patron of young adults and mountaineers. May we all continue to be inspired by this man’s witness and never stop reaching “to the heights.”
