The feast day of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is celebrated by the faithful on July 4. This year, we will celebrate his last feast day as a Blessed!
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be elevated to sainthood on September 7, 2025, by Pope Leo XIV.
Among many things, Frassati is known for his charity and adventure. His story illustrates how everyone’s path to sainthood is unique, bearing different challenges and opportunities to follow God’s Will.
On the topic of charity, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati once said,
"Every one of you knows that the foundation of our religion is charity. Without it, all our religion would crumble, because we would not truly be Catholics as long as we did not carry out, or rather shape our whole lives by the two commandments in which the essence of the Catholic Faith lies: to love God with all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And here is the explicit proof that the Catholic Faith is based on real love and not, as so many would like, in order to quiet their consciences, to base the religion of Christ on violence. With violence, hatred is sown, and then its evil fruits are gathered. With charity, Peace is sown among men, but not the peace of the world, True Peace, which only faith in Jesus Christ can give, binding us together in brotherly love."
When Frassati died in 1925, his family discovered the many hidden sacrifices he made for those in need.
“His charity did not simply involve giving something to others, but giving completely of himself. This was fed by daily communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist and by frequent nocturnal adoration, by meditation on St. Paul’s ‘Hymn of Charity’ (I Corinthians 13), and by the writings of St. Catherine of Siena,” the FrassatiUSA website explains.
The organization, FrassatiUSA, offers the faithful a special way to carry on the charitable legacy of this incredible saint through something called THE PACT.
“THE PACT is a simple commitment to radically change the world– one act of charity at a time,” the website explains. “All it requires is your willingness to pray each day the Prayer for the Courage to be Great and to do each day one small act of charity. That's it!”
The name originates from Frassati’s message to a friend, in which he explained his desire to unite in prayer. This, he said, would be a pact that would go beyond earthly boundaries or temporal limits.
Prayer for the Courage to be Great
"Heavenly Father,
Give me the courage to strive for the highest goals,
to flee every temptation to be mediocre.
Enable me to aspire to greatness, as Pier Giorgio did,
and to open my heart with joy to Your call to holiness.
Free me from the fear of failure.
I want to be, Lord, firmly and forever united to You.
Grant me the graces I ask You through Pier Giorgio's intercession,
by the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen."
The Pact encourages others to follow the holy example of soon-to-be saint Pier Giorgio Frassati through simple, daily acts of love and prayer.
You can make THE PACT Pledge here.