Saints celebrated on the 4th of July
SAINT PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI, DOMINICAN TERTIARY
Pier Giorgio Frassati, born April 6, 1901 in Turin to wealthy parents, was a vibrant, joyful youth who loved mountain climbing, the theater, opera, and literature. He also had a deep spiritual life and a strong devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Virgin Mary, daily Mass and the Rosary. He joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in 1918, became a Lay Dominican in 1922, and joined Catholic Action.
Social justice issues were close to Pier Giorgio's heart. He put his Catholic Christian faith into practice by catering to the needs of the poor and less fortunate living in his hometown of Turin. People who knew him personally remember his devotion and amiable character.
Affectionately calling him the "Man of the Beatitudes" (referring to the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible), Pope John Paul II praised Pier Giorgio for his exemplary work of bringing comfort and happiness to those who were poor, suffering, meek, hungry, thirsty, and in need of mercy, and who was himself clean of heart, a peacemaker, and persecuted for the sake of the Gospel (cf. Matthew 5:3-10).
While ministering to the sick, Pier Giorgio contracted polio and died just six days later on July 4, 1925. His family, thinking he suffered from a mild sickness, did not realise the seriousness of his condition until it was too late. At his funeral his parents were shocked to find thousands of the city's poor, whom their son had helped in some way, arrive to pay their respects.
Pope Leo XIV canonized Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati together with Blessed Carlo Acutis on September 7, 2025, as the first new saints declared in his pontificate.
Pope Francis recognized the miraculous healing in a decree on November 25, 2024, of a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who was ordained a priest in June 2023.
Father Juan Gutierrez, 38, then a seminarian at St John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, tore his Achilles tendon while playing basketball with other seminarians in 2017. Concerned about the long and painful recovery and expenses, Gutierrez headed for the seminary chapel the day after getting an MRI “with a heavy heart.” As he prayed, Gutierrez felt inspired to make a novena to Frassati. A few days into the novena, Gutierrez went into the chapel to pray when nobody was there. As he prayed, he recalled feeling an unusual sensation around his injured foot.
“I was praying, and I started to feel a sensation of heat around the area of my injury. And I honestly thought that maybe something was catching on fire, underneath the pews,” Gutierrez recalled at a press conference on December 16, 2024, at St John the Baptist Parish in Los Angeles County, where he now serves as an associate pastor. “That event touched me deeply,” Gutierrez said. He was not only touched spiritually, but he was also healed physically. Incredibly, he was able to walk normally again and no longer needed a brace.
Monsignor Robert Sarno, a former official of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints who served as the archiepiscopal delegate in the diocesan process in Los Angeles that examined the healing, told CNA that when Gutierrez went to the orthopedic surgeon a week later, “the orthopedic surgeon, after seeing the MRI and conducting physical investigations, said to him, ‘You must have someone in heaven who likes you.’”
Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier_Giorgio_Frassati- https://www.usccb.org/topics/youth-and-young-adult-ministries/blessed-pier-giorgio-frassati-https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264747/the-miracle-that-makes-possible-pier-giorgio-frassati-s-canonization
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Pier Giorgio may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment