I’ve dished before about why we think Pier Giorgio Frassati is awesome enough to make him the patron saint of our family and name our first-born after him. Even Fr. Robert Barron thinks he’s a baller. Another great thing about Frassati, like all good saints, is that his words have become timeless and immortal, ringing truer as the years pass. He spoke simply and beautifully, leaving each individual human heart the opportunity to delve into the depths of the meaning of his words according to their own walk with God. His quotes pierce my heart and call me on to greater holiness; thus, I thought I would compile a list of Pier Giorgio Frassati quotes for us all to have as a reference 🙂

^the sign that hangs above our kitchen sink – you can get one for yourself here

On the Eucharist

“I urge you with all the strength of my soul to approach the Eucharist Table as often as possible. Feed on this Bread of the Angels from which you will draw the strength to fight inner struggles.”

“Jesus Who, because of infinite love for humanity, wanted to be in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as our Consoler and as Bread of the Soul.”

“When you are totally consumed by the Eucharistic fire, then you will be able more consciously to thank God, who has called you to become part of His family. Then you will enjoy the peace that those who are happy in this world have never experienced, because true happiness, oh young people, does not consist in the pleasures of this world, or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we only have if we are pure of heart and mind.”

“Come, and your every sacrifice will be repaid in heaven, because Jesus Christ promises that everything we do for the poor in His name, we do for Him. You do not want to deny Christ this love, He whose infinite love for humanity gave Himself to us in the sacrament of the Eucharist, as our Comforter and the Bread of Life.”

“Jesus is with me. I have nothing to fear.”

On the Poor

“All around the sick and all around the poor I see a special light which we do not have.”

“Perhaps it was someone who needed it more than I do.” (his response when his bicycle was stolen)

“By drawing closer to the poor, little by little we become their confidants and counselors in the worst moments of this earthly pilgrimage. We can give them the comforting words of faith and often we succeed, not by our own merit, in putting on the right road people who have strayed without meaning to. Witnessing daily the faith with which some families often bear the worst suffering, their constant sacrifices, and that they do all this for the love of God, often makes us ask why we, who have received so many things from God, have been so neglectful, so bad, while they, who have not been as priviledged, are so much better? And so we resolve in our conscience to follow the Way of the Cross, the only way that leads to eternal life.”

“But I am poor like all the poor.”

“What wealth it is to be in good health, as we are! But we have the duty of putting our health at the service of those who do not have it. To act otherwise would be to betray that gift of God.”

On Prayer

“I ask you to pray a lot for me, because I desperately need from God the grace to carry out my projects to good effect… Only prayers can obtain from God the desired improvement.”

“Keep them in memory of me and if every time you say the rosary you say an extra Hail Mary for me, I’ll be very grateful.” (Upon giving his rosary to his friend, Tina)

“In prayer the soul rises above life’s sadnesses.”

On Adventure

“Every day that passes, I fall more desperately in love with the mountains… I am ever more determined to climb the mountains, to scale the mighty peaks, to feel that pure joy which can only be felt in the mountains.”

“I beg you to pray for me a little, so that God may give me an iron will that does not bend and does not fail in his projects.”

“Every day, my love for the mountains grows more and more. If my studies permitted, I’d spend whole days in the mountains contemplating the Creator’s greatness in that pure air.”

“But the important thing is to sing.” (his response to someone telling him he was out of tune while singing in the town square)

“My mother smoked over me when I was being fed at the breast.” (his lighthearted response to an inquiry about his love for Tuscan cigars)

On the Christian Life

“The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you will do nothing, but if you have God as the center of all your action, then you will reach the goal.”

“The times we are going through are difficult because cruel persecution of the Church is raging. But you bold and good young people should not be afraid of this small thing; remember that the Church is a divine institution and cannot come to an end. She will last till the end of the world. Not even the gates of hell can prevail against her.”

“When God is with us, we don’t have to be afraid of anything.”

“I think peace will be a long time coming. But our faith teaches us that we must always keep on hoping we shall enjoy it one day.”

“We must sacrifice everything for everything: our ambitions, indeed our entire selves, for the cause of the Faith.”

“My dearest little daddy. I love you so much and to make you happy, I won’t hit Luciana anymore. Happy holiday. I will pray to Baby Jesus for you. Kisses, your Dodo.” (From a letter Giorgio wrote to his dad when he was 6. Precious, right?)

“With every day that passes, I grow more and more convinced how ugly the world is, of how much suffering there is, and, unfortunately, of how it is the good who suffer the most. Meanwhile, we who have been given so many of God’s blessings have repaid Him poorly. This is an awful reality that racks my brain; while I’m studying, every so often I ask myself: will I continue on the right path? Will I have the strength to persevere all the way? In the face of this pang of doubt, the faith given to me in Baptism reassures me of this: by yourself, you will accomplish nothing, but if you place God at the center of all your actions, then you will reach the goal.”

“To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to ‘get along’; we must never just ‘get along’.”

“Each of you knows that the foundation of our faith is charity. Without it, our religion would crumble. We will never be truly Catholic unless we conform our entire lives to the two commandments that are the essence of the Catholic faith: to love the Lord, our God, with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves… With charity, we sow the seeds of that true peace which only our faith in Jesus Christ can give us by making us all brothers and sisters. I know that this way is steep, and difficult, and strewn with thorns, while at first glance the other path seems easier, more pleasant, and more satisfying. But the fact is, if we could look into the hearts of those who follow the perverse paths of this world, we would see that they lack the serenity that comes to those who have faced a thousand difficulties and who have renounced material pleasure to follow God’s law.”

“May peace reign in your soul… any other gift we possess in this life is vanity, just as all the things of this world are vain.”

“Foolish is he who follows the pleasures of this world, because these are always fleeting and bring much pain. The only true pleasure is that which comes to us through faith.”

“I hope that by the grace of God I will continue to follow these Catholic ideals so that one day, in the way God wishes, I will be able to preserve and promote these truths.”

“We who, by the grace of God, are Catholics, must not squander the best years of our lives as so many unhappy young people do, who worry about enjoying the good things in life, things that do not in fact bring any good, but rather the fruit of immorality in today’s world. We must prepare ourselves to be ready and able to handle the struggles we will have to endure to fulfill our goals, and, in so doing, to give our country happier and morally healthier days in the near future. But in order for this to happen we need the following: constant prayer to obtain God’s grace, without which all our efforts are in vain; organization and discipline to be ready for action at the right moment; and finally, we need to sacrifice our own passions, indeed our very selves, because without this sacrifice we will never achieve our goal.”

“In God’s marvelous plan, Divine Providence often uses the tiniest twigs to do good works… What would life be without acts of charity?”

“In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love… Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity; if anything, I think it will be even more alive in the next life!”

“There is no need to pay attention to gossip, much less get ill by giving in to those who perhaps have never known was truth is.”

“Modern society is drowning in the sorrows of human passions and it is distancing itself from every ideal of love and peace. Catholics, we and you, must bring the breath of goodness that can only spring from faith in Christ.”

“There is nothing more beautiful than love.”

On Suffering

“It is a difficult battle, but we must strive to win it and to rediscover our small road to Damascus in order to walk toward the destination to which we all must arrive… What is clear is that faith is the only anchor of salvation and we must hold tightly to it: without it, what would our lives be? Nothing, or rather, wasted, because in life there is only suffering, and suffering without faith is unbearable. But suffering that is nourished by the flame of faith becomes something beautiful, because it tempers the soul to deal with suffering.”

“Do not be worried, for the life of the good is very short.” (offering consolation to his friend, Mario, upon the loss of his sister)

“Our life, in order to be Christian, has to be a continual renunciation, a continual sacrifice. But this is not difficult, if one thinks what these few years passed in suffering are, compared with eternal happiness where joy will have no measure or end, and where we shall have unimaginable peace.”

“Faith enables us to bear the thorns with which our life is woven.”

“We are living through difficullt days because the persecution against the Church is raging more than ever, but this should not frighten you, brave and good young people. Always remember that the Church is a divine institution and it cannot come to an end.”

“A Catholic cannot help but be happy; sadness should be banished from their souls. Suffering is not sadness, which is the worst disease. This disease is almost always caused by atheism, but the end for which we are created guides us along life’s pathway, which may be strewn with thorns, but is not sad. It is happy even through suffering.”

“I am waiting day after day to arm myself with good will to pursue my final task to the end, for I am close to harvesting what I have sown.” (written 19 days before his death)

Sources

A Man of the Beatitudes by Luciana Frassati
My Brother Pier Giorgio: His Last Days by Luciana Frassati
Pier Giorgio Frassati: A Hero for Our Times by Cristina Siccardi
Pier Giorgio Frassati: Letters to His Friends and Family compiled and edited by Christine M. Wohar