Saint Who?
Saints Who Promoted the Rosary
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
Layman († 1925)Feast: July 4
“To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to ‘get along’; we must never just ‘get along.’” Born April 6, 1901, Pier Frassati was the child of an artist and a wealthy newspaper man. He was lively and fun-loving, enjoyed concerts, and could recite long passages of Dante by heart. He was an avid mountain climber, who cheered his companions along with hearty, and tone-deaf, singing.
The popular young man spent hours, even entire nights, in adoration. He was so attentive at Mass, it was said a bee could have stung him and he would not have lost focus. He was also a devotee of the rosary, and made rosaries for his friends out of seeds from his garden.
Affectionately called Il Terrore for his practical jokes, Frassati had a good sense of humor. One day a friend saw him leaving church with a rosary. “So, Pier Giorgio, you have become a religious fanatic?” “No,” he replied, “I have remained a Christian.” Frassati contracted a deadly disease, probably in attending to the sick, and died at the age of twenty-four. Thousands attended his funeral, and in 1981 his body was found to be incorrupt.
O Jesus, through the prayers and example of
Blessed Pier Giorgio, give us humility and
courage in our devotion to Mary.
