Meet This Handsome, Single, and Goofy Soon-to-be-Saint
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Living life as someone single or dating, while so fruitful and full of possibility, is not without its hardships. If you’re looking for heavenly help but want to break outside of the habits and the monasteries, look no further than Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (his feast day is tomorrow!). He may be just the intercessor you need…chances are, he’s been there and experienced that.
Who was Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati?
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was a young man from Turin, Italy in the early 1900's who was born into a wealthy and influential family. His mother was a nominal Catholic and his father claimed to be agnostic. Pier Giorgio and his sister Luciana, though, were graced by God with deep spiritualities and a serious love of the Church. Beatified by Saint John Paul the Great, Frassati surely lived a life of heroic virtue.
But on a more personal level, he was a single guy who lived fully in his own society and experienced all the joys and sorrows of youth.
Blessed Frassati might be one of the most relatable (future) saints out there.
He was fun and mischievous and loved hanging out with his friends. He even created the Tipi Loschi Society, aka, The Shady Characters, made up of his closest male and female pals. The purpose of the group was to stay closely connected in friendship and prayer through organized mountain hiking excursions.
Their faith in Christ was a natural element of the fellowship—as were pranks and inside jokes. The group’s motto was something like, “Few but ready, like spaghetti,” and they even named a fictional saint as their patron.
Get-togethers sprinkled with hijinks and sport expressed Frassati’s profound love and gratitude for his friendships. His words reflect the depth of his appreciation for his dear companions:
“In earthly life, after the love of parents and siblings, one of the most beautiful sorts of affection is that of friendship; and everyday I ought to thank God for giving me such good friends, who are for me a precious guide for my whole life.”
Friends are precious indeed when living single or dating. We cling to our trusted allies when times get rocky, run to them when we need advice or a sounding board, and they can help guide us when we lack clarity. Pier Giorgio’s life is validation that choosing good friends who love God can help us reach sainthood and that we should aspire to help them do the same.
Like many single people, he experienced love and heartache too.
Ever felt heartbroken in your romantic life? Blessed Pier Giorgio definitely did! This fact about Frassati is more than just an interesting anecdote. He experienced true, gut-wrenching, dramatic heartache because he deeply loved a woman whom he decided he could not marry.
In his childhood, he was acquainted with a girl named Laura Hidalgo. They did not get along very well until they were reacquainted years later after both her parents had died, and she was left to be responsible for herself and her brother. Laura was a fellow Shady Character and she and Frassati were good friends.
He ultimately fell deeply in love with her but kept it to himself for a while. Finally, he spoke of his great love to his sister Luciana and she affirmed what he already knew. His parents would never approve of Laura as his wife. Her status as an orphan, even though her father had been a general, made her an unsuitable match.
Despite falling deeply in love, Pier Giorgio accepted that marrying her was not the right decision. And he still went on to live a holy, full life.
“Dead? What does that word mean? If by dead you mean the common definition, then I am still alive, if my senses do not betray me. But if we take the word in its true meaning, then unfortunately not only am I dead but I have already been revived several times, only, alas, to die again.”
His sister Luciana gives us more insight to his internal conflict:
“Serious torments, sufferings, and renunciations occupied the short time between the trip to Quercianella…which I recall perfectly, and the day of his death. It tortured his mind cruelly to the point of the supreme sacrifice, the final ‘no’ whereby he gave up speaking to her…the girl whom he had chosen in the secret silence of his heart. But the thought of his future happiness could not overcome the anguish of his perturbed family.” Pier Giorgio Frassati: A Hero for Our Times
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was a good-looking, cigar-smoking, pool-playing prankster who served the poor, loved his friends, and suffered a broken heart. Through his life, we see that there is beauty, fun, joy and honor within the crosses and sacrifices of this earthly life. Let us pray for his intercession when we face hardship in our social and romantic lives and keep our gaze upon Christ as he did.
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