Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

Blessed Pier Giorgio is the patron and role model for the young masses. With World Youth Day approaching, the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was brought to Sydney. And I had a chance to touch and pray to his relics at St Benedict's church. Learning more about Catholicism, touching objects onto a first class relic makes the object a 3rd class relic. This would be the beginning of my pilgrimage to the World Youth Day celebration that ends on July 21st with the Papal mass at Randwick Racecourse.

Pier Giorgio was a vibrant young man born into a wealthy family who dedicated his 24 short years to the needy, to works of social action, charity, prayer and community. He would always say, "Charity is not enough: we need social reform." His father would not give him much spending money but the money he received, he would give to the poor...even if it meant he had to run home to be on time for meals to give up his train fares. When he was a child a poor mother with a boy in tow came begging to the Frassati home. Pier Giorgio answered the door, and seeing the boy's shoeless feet gave him his own shoes. At graduation, given the choice by his father of money or a car he chose the money and gave it to the poor. (To read more: http://www.bettnet.com/frassati/).

And so it became that with his selfless charity work to the needy, when Pier Giorgio passed away, it was the poor that petitioned to begin a cause for canonization. He was beatified in 1990 by Pope John Paul II.