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Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: An Ordinary Christian

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If you are interested in a book about Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, this is the one to get - or at least to start with. The other two books available in the U.S. are "Man of the Beatitudes" and "His Last Days - My Brother Pier Giorgio", both written by Pier Giorgio's sister Luciana. If you're really interested in getting to know Pier Giorgio I recommend these books as well, but they are not as succinct, nor are they as well written as "Ordinary Christian". "Man of the Beatitudes" is written by his sister, is of course based on first hand accounts, and has a lot of great information. However, it jumps around a lot and doesn't read very well. There is also a flawed representation of Frassati's parents according Frassati's niece Wanda Gawronska, head of the Associazione Pier Giorgio Frassati. "His Last Days" is a better book, and a powerful telling of Pier Giorgio's tragic and heroic last six days. I highly recommend this very detailed acount of the last days of his life.

"Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: An Ordinary Christian" is simply a much better biography. Well written, easy to read, filled with information, quotes, and pictures - it combines much of the information from the other two books and adds new information to produce a fine book that covers almost every aspect of his life personally, politically, and spiritually -including the process involved in his beatification.

As the moderator of the Frassati Society at the Catholic high school where I teach, having a deep devotion to this amazing Christian, and having been blessed to personally meet and talk with Wanda Gawronska several times in Rome - it is my opinion that this is the best introduction to the life and witness of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati - perhaps the most relevant example of a devout and dynamic young Catholic life for the youth of today.

"By his example he proclaims that a life lived in Christ's Spirit, the Spirit of the Beatitudes, is `blessed', and that only the person who becomes a `man or woman of the Beatitudes' can succeed in communicating love and peace to others. He repeats that it is really worth giving up everything to serve the Lord. He testifies that holiness is possible for everyone, and that only the revolution of charity can enkindle the hope of a better future in the hearts of people."

From Pope John Paul II's homily
at the Beatification Mass of
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati,
May 20, 1990.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's life-though brief-was truely a model example of the heroic, an unyielding quest to fully and earnestly live out the Gospel. At times, it's an indefinable journey that is filled to the brim with unimaginable heartbreaks and delights of unprecedented scope, a trek that is sometimes lived out both publicly and privately. In the case of Pier Giorgio Frassati-in his cultured and affluent upbringing-he was the private Catholic Robin Hood, living a life divided of what his family and the moneyed society he was born into expeced of him versus what his heart yearned to bring to fruition: helping the less fortunate and living out his vocation of faith with zeal, simplicity and adventure. He could have lived a cushioned life as a freewheeling member of the intellectual Italian aristocracy, his agnostic father, Alfredo, being the founder of the noted newspaper, La Stampa, as well as being a politician and diplomat, while his mother, Adelaide, was a sculptress of acknowledged repute. Yet, there was an aspect of heavyheartedness and mistrust regarding the life he was born into, often shunning society balls and all the baggage associated with it. He did not yearn to be an executive paper pusher within La Stampa, as his father had set up for him. Rather, he wanted to be a mining engineer in order to work with the poor and needy miners, to cater to their spiritual and economic needs--foregoing even the priesthood, becasue he believed he could give more and better as a member of the laity, offer more hands-on, practical service where he saw fit, which was almost everywhere. Sadly, the unmistakable vocation to the religious life was never fostered nor promoted by his parents, as noted on page 30: "Once, when a nun asked Adelaide what she thought of the idea of Pier Giorgio becoming a priest, she answered abruptly, 'I would rather he graduate from the university and die.'" As that was so, Pier Giorgio, thrust himself behind Catholic Action, adhering strictly to their motto of action, prayer and sacrifice. He also became a political Catholic neophyte, getting into brawls to protect the faith, while denouncing Mussolini's facism. All the while, he would make private visits to the poor, trudging with an abundance of care packages into the most dilapidated and disease infested areas conceivable, only to rise very early in the morning for devotions, to pray with Mary for guidance and sing the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary or do the rosary, which was the "testament in my pocket."--page 53. Tersely yet eloquently written, An Ordinary Christian is a beautifully crafted biography of a most remarkable, humorous and winsome young man, a keen mountaineer who made his Catholic faith his priority; his compassion, openness, feisty doggedness, enthusiasm, grinding patience and loving acceptance of God's will for him, definitely makes him a Catholic Blessed and hopefully a soon-to-be Catholic Saint that all humainity-young and old-can look up to, a man who scaled beyond the mountain crests up to the heavenly realm.

I found myself unable to put this book down, devouring it in a day's time and finding myself to inspired by this great saint. The author's organization makes it for an easy read - starting with one aspect of Blessed Pier's life and spirituality, covering it in depth, and then moving on to another. Pier was a multi-faceted man - a romantic, a mystic, an athlete, a student, an outspoken political critic, a son/brother, and a friend. Thank God this author is able to write beautifully on Pier from each of those aspects in such a manner that anyone who reads this book will feel a connection to this blessed youth.

Pier Giorgio was athletic, fun-loving, knew the true meaning of friendship, and yet had a small vice or two (he smoked a pipe). He came from an average, and averagely disfunctional, family. He was deeply in love with a beautiful girl whom, rightly or wrongly, he felt he had to give up because his parents would object. And so he courageously did so, not even letting the girl suspect the depth of his feelings for her. His love for God and for the poor filled his young life. His sister Luciana felt that his death from polio at age 24 was indirectly caused by the inattention and even neglect of his parents during his grandmother's last illness. A good read, and an inspiring one!

Best book on PG I've read so far. Both inspirational and informative. Other books have tended to be to biased and unbalanced. Very well worth the read.

Frassati is an excellent model for the life of a young person, and this is a helpful introduction to the qualities that made him extraordinary.

In many ways this book is similar to "A Man of the Beatitudes". It covers many of the same themes. However, it does differ by being more detached (it's not written by someone as close as Luciana) and it devotes an entire chapter to one little-discussed aspect of Pier Giorgio's life: his secret, suppressed love for a young girl.

During one of his regular mountain climbs, Pier Giorgio fell head over heels for a fellow-hiker named Laura. His journals and letters reveal just how instantly and deeply in love with her he was, and it wasn't long befroe he decided that that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

But he knew his parents wouldn't approve. Laura wasn't part of the upper class, and she was a Catholic activist, both strikes against her in the eyes of his parents. Pier Giorgio knew this would cause serious problems within his family, and since his relationship with his parents was already tumultuous, he never once revealed to them his secret love. He gave it up quietly, quitting his pursuit out of honor for his parents. For better or worse, right or wrong, the episode puts Pier Giorgio's utter selflessness on full display.

This book had the fullest treatment of this whole episode, which makes it a nice addition to any Pier Giorgio collection.