Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925)

Feast Day: July 4
Beatified: May 20, 1990
Patron Of World Youth Days, Italian Confraternities, Catholic Youth, Mountain Climbers, Skiers, Dominican Tertiaries

Pier Giorgio Frassati, “The Man of the Beatitudes,” was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy to an influential family. From his youth, the handsome and personable Frassati showed a devout nature, attending daily Mass, and joined the Marian Sodality and the Apostleship of Prayer.

An avid outdoorsman, Pier Giorgio organized mountain climbs and hiking trips with friends. He loved theater and was politically active, strongly anti-Fascist, and involved with the Catholic Young Workers Congress.

He became a professed Third Order Dominican, devoted to St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Catherine of Siena. Having a deep love for the poor, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and spent much free time tending to the needy

At just 24, he contracted polio – which some say he got from caring for people in the Turin slums. He suffered six days before dying on July 4, 1925. As a testament to his character, the local poor lined the streets of Turin for his funeral procession. St. Pope John Paul II beatified him on May 20, 1990. Pier Giorgio has been a patron for several World Youth Days.