“Our Lady is worth a whole lot to the Church, and we owe everything to her.”
-Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati
VATICAN CITY — September 7, 2025. Under the bright morning sun in St. Peter’s Square, tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the globe gathered as Pope Leo XIV declared Pier Giorgio Frassati a saint of the Catholic Church. The canonization ceremony, held at 10:00 a.m. Vatican time, was one of the highlights of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, marking the recognition of a young man whose short but radiant life continues to inspire the world.
From Privilege to Service
Born on April 6, 1901, in Turin, Italy, Pier Giorgio Frassati grew up in a wealthy and prominent family. Yet, despite his privileged upbringing and parents who were largely indifferent to religion, his heart leaned toward God and the poor. As a child, he once gave his own shoes to a barefoot boy at his family’s door, a gesture symbolic of the generosity that would define his life.
He joined the Marian Sodality and the Apostleship of Prayer, receiving special permission to take daily Communion, a rare devotion at the time. For Frassati, Marian devotion was not optional but the foundation of his spirituality. He once pinned to his study door a handwritten copy of St. Bernard’s Hymn to the Virgin from Dante’s Paradiso, a daily reminder of his love for her.
Joyful Spirit, Marian Heart
To his friends, Frassati was affectionately known as “Il Terrore” (“The Terror”) for his practical jokes and lively spirit. Yet behind the humor was a profound commitment to prayer, justice, and service.
His Marian devotion was tangible. He carried the Rosary with him everywhere, offering what he called a “daily bouquet” of prayers to Mary. “A day never passed,” recalled his best friend Marco, “that he didn’t weave, at the feet of his heavenly Mother, the crown of her favorite prayer.”
But Pier Giorgio also expressed his love for Mary in simpler, visible gestures. Flowers were his favorite gift. His sister Luciana recalled that “wherever there was a celebration in her honor, Pier Giorgio would show up with a bunch of flowers.” Even in the winter snows of Pollone, he would walk to the Shrine of the Madonna of Oropa carrying blossoms cut from his family’s garden. When asked why he would come in such harsh weather, he would smile and reply, “I’ve brought some flowers for Our Lady.”
These Marian devotions, humble, consistent, and filled with joy, shaped every aspect of his life, giving him the strength to live out the beatitudes in service of the poor and oppressed.
A Holy Death, A Legacy
In June 1925, while serving the poor in Turin’s slums, Frassati contracted polio. On his deathbed, even in weakness, he clutched his Rosary and whispered the names of families who still needed help. He died on July 4, 1925, at just 24 years old.
Declared “Blessed” by Pope John Paul II in 1990, Frassati was hailed as a “man of the beatitudes” and a “joyful apostle of Christ.” John Paul II later revealed that in his youth, he had been deeply influenced by Frassati’s Marian devotion. His sister remembered him as “pure, happy, enthusiastic about everything that is good and beautiful.”
Canonized by Pope Leo XIV
Now, a century after his passing, the Church has recognized his sanctity in full. At the canonization Mass, Pope Leo XIV, the first Augustinian pope and the first American-born pontiff, declared Frassati a saint alongside Carlo Acutis, uniting two youthful witnesses of faith in one historic moment of the Jubilee Year.
“Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati shows us that holiness is possible in everyday life,” Pope Leo said in his homily. “He lived with joy, served with love, and never stopped climbing toward God, with Mary as his constant companion.”
A Saint for the Youth, Under Mary’s Mantle
Today, Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati is celebrated as the patron of students, young Catholics, mountaineers, Catholic Action, World Youth Day, and Vincentian Youth. Apostolates across the world bear his name, and his smiling image, often with mountains in the background, flowers in hand, or a Rosary around his fingers, continues to inspire countless young people to follow Christ with joy and courage.
As pilgrims return home from the canonization, one phrase echoes louder than ever: “Verso l’Alto.” To the heights, with Our Lady, always toward Christ.