Pier Giorgio is the subject of a book I just read. I’m glad I did because I hadn’t been acquainted with this young man. What an appealing model for young people today!

He was born in Turin, Italy, on April 6, 1901. Pier’s mother was a painter and practiced the minimum of faith. His father, an agnostic, founded a newspaper and worked for the government. Pier died from polio on July 4, 1925 at the age of twenty-four. It’s surmised that he contracted with disease from sick people he had tended.

Faith and Good Works

As a youth, Pier already had a deep spiritual life and wasn’t shy about it. He loved the Eucharist and Mary. At a time when daily Communion was rare, he had permission to receive it. He was a member of the Marian Sodality and the Apostleship of Prayer. He became a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. Eager to share his faith, Pier enticed his friends to attend Mass, read the Bible, and pray the Rosary.

Love for the Poor

Even as a child, Pier manifested love for the poor. When a woman came to the Frassati house begging accompanied by a shoeless child, Pier removed his shoes and gave them to the boy.

When Pier was seventeen, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and ministered to the sick and needy, orphans, and servicemen returning from World War I.

With a large heart for the poor, he gave his bus fare to charity and ran home. At his graduation, his father offered him a car or money. Pier chose the funds so he could distribute them to the poor. He gave up vacations at his family summer home, saying, “If everybody leaves Turin, who will take care of the poor?”

A Man of Action

Intending to be a mining engineer, he attended the Royal Polytechnic University of Turin. As a student, he joined Catholic Action and the People’s Party, which promoted the Church’s social teaching.

He helped organize a convention of Pax Romana, whose goal was uniting Catholic students worldwide to work for peace. Defending the faith, he was involved in fights with Communists and Fascists, once joining a demonstration in Rome against police violence. He said, “Charity is not enough; we need social reform.”

A Normal Young Man

Pier was athletic. He was a good swimmer and an avid mountain climber. His motto was “To the Heights.” He loved music and art and enjoyed going to the theater, operas, and museums. He struggled in school especially with Latin, played pranks, and horsed around with his friends.

Once Pier was attracted to a girl, but he gathered his parents would not approve of her. So he never pursued a relationship with her.

Pier’s disease manifested itself on June 30 while he was boating. The next day he was very ill. On that same day his grandmother died, so Pier refused to call attention to himself. Three days later he died. Before dying, with a paralyzed hand he wrote a message asking a friend to give his medicine to a poor man he had visited. At his funeral thousands of people lined the streets.

St. Pope John Paul II called Pier the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.” Pope Leo XIV canonized him five months ago, on September 7, 2025. You might wish to read more about him. The Frassati Field Guide: An 8-Day Ascent to Heroic Virtue by Bobby Angel (Ave Maria Press) is a retreat to “seek the heights.” Several videos about him are on YouTube. Here is one of them: https://youtu.be/Qn33GQbMeno?si=jSyH5Zfh0CWOeDUX.

Words of Saint Pier

Jesus is with me. I have nothing to fear.

The secret of happiness is to be grateful for what you have.

Let us be convinced that we can change the world.

True friendship is a gift from God.

Seize the opportunity to share your faith in a world that desperately needs it.

The end for which we are created invites us to walk a road that is surely sown with a lot of thorns, but it is not sad; through even the sorrow, it is illuminated by joy.

I urge you young people to approach the Communion table as often as you can. Fee on this bread of angels whence you will draw all the energy you need to fight inner battles.

The foundation of our faith is charity. Without it our religion would crumble.

God gives us health so that we may serve the sick.

What about Pier’s life do you find inspiring?

Which of his quotations are meaningful for you?

In honor of Saint Pier’s passion and motto, here is one of my favorite songs: