9-Day Novena & Fitness Challenge
Let’s kick off the school year with a special prayer and fitness challenge dedicated to all the students, parents, and teachers focused on building a strong foundation and culture of physical and spiritual health! Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, “the man of the beatitudes” and patron of World Youth Day has an amazing novena we will pray asking him to intercede on behalf of our youth and each other in this time of need for stronger personal faith and fitness.
PLEASE JOIN US beginning Saturday, Aug. 14th at 12:15 pm central time, and continuing every day for nine days at 7 am and 12:15 pm LIVE on YouTube and our Facebook Page. You can also pray on your own of course at a similar time each day.
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"to the heights" ... who was Pier Giorgio Frassati?
A Global Patron and Companion for Youth and Young Adults
For years, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) has been a significant global patron for youth and young adults – and has a special place in the hearts of young people across the United States as well. St. John Paul II declared him a patron for World Youth Days and deemed him “the man of the beatitudes” as he exemplified those blessings in his everyday life. Pope Francis listed him (CV 60) among the twelve exemplary saints for all young people in his apostolic exhortation, Christus Vivit, “who devoted their lives to Christ… precious reflections of the young Christ; their radiant witness encourages us and awakens us from our lethargy.” (CV 49)
Frassati was considered extraordinary in his “ordinariness.”
Pier Giorgio was engaged in the life of the Church through regular worship and adoration, service to the poor and marginalized, advocacy for social justice for the disenfranchised and for religious liberty, regular participation in student activities, devotion to his family, and joyful companionship with his friends and fellow Catholics in his community. He saw many parallels between Catholic life and his favorite pastime, mountain-climbing. He would regularly organize trips into the mountains with his close friends with occasions for prayer, liturgies, and conversations about faith on the way up to or down from the summit.
After what would become his final climb he wrote a simple note on a photograph: “Verso L’Alto”, which means “to the heights.” This phrase has since come to encapsulate his philosophy of mountaineering and his Catholic outlook on life and adventure. You can learn more about Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati at Frassati USA.
In naming Frassati as one of their primary patrons, the Church has given youth and young adults an excellent role model for their own journey. Just like Frassati, young people continually set out on a voyage in their everyday lives “to the heights” to encounter Christ in all things, and in a particular way, through the community of the Church and the Holy Eucharist.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Blessed Frassati:
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’.
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.
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.
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.
This brief biography is found on this United Conference of Catholic Bishops website page.
Frassati quotes can be found in many places online, but special thanks to the Westminister Youth Ministry website for supplying these particular quotes.