May/Jun 2011

Many people [in authority] oppose us, persecute us, and
would like even to destroy us, but
we must be patient.
As long as their commands are not against our conscience,
let us obey them, but when the case is otherwise,
let us uphold the rights of God and of the Church,
for those are superior to all earthly authority.

St. John Bosco

My Mother, I will stand with you on OCTOBER 10, 2020

Pier Giorgio was born on April 6, 1901 in Turin, Italy, of a prominent family. His father, an agnostic, owned the liberal newspaper, La Stampa, served in the Italian Senate and later became an ambassador to Germany.

Of a different frame of mind and stance of soul than that of his father, young Pier Giorgio was deeply spiritual. The Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary were the two devotions around which revolved his prayer life, a life he never hesitated to share with his friends.

While pursuing a mining engineering degree, he became involved in Catholic youth groups, the Apostleship of Prayer, Catholic Action and was a Dominican Tertiary. He helped establish the paper Momento based on Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical, Rerum Novarum. In 1918, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and spent much of his time helping the poor by sharing with them his allowance and even the clothes off his back.

Pier Giorgio was strongly anti-communist and anti-fascist and never hid his political views. In a Church-organized demonstration in Rome he rescued their banner from the hands of the police and, holding it high, used the pole to ward off blows. Arrested with the demonstrators, he refused special treatment because of his father’s position, and was jailed along with his friends. On another occasion, when a group of fascists broke into his family home, he beat them off single-handedly, chasing them down the street.

The young man loved art and music, and often frequented the theater, the opera and museums.  One of his favorite sports was mountain climbing, and he often organized expeditions with his friends, never failing to lead them to Mass or in the Rosary.

Just before receiving his engineering degree, Pier Giorgio contracted poliomyelitis, possibly caught from the sick he tended. After six days of terrible and intense suffering, the holy young man died on July 4, 1925.

His funeral was a triumph. His family was amazed as throngs of the poor and needy of the city lined the streets, many of whom in turn were surprised to realize that their “angel of mercy” was the heir to the influential Frassati family.

When on May 20, 1990 Pope John Paul II beatified Pier Giorgio, he called him the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.”

I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother hang up the phone, a worried look on her face.

“What is it, Mom?”

“It was your sister. She said one of the ambulance drivers for the medical office she works for is in a deep coma because of a gas leak in his trailer last night.”

“Wow… Will he recover soon?” I asked hopefully.

But as the weeks wore on, the young man failed to give any sign of life, and the doctors began to lose hope. The next time my mother asked after him, the decision had been made to disconnect life support.

Hearing of this decision, I felt a sudden rush of confidence: I remembered America Needs Fatima was launching a national drive to promote the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, a special devotional given to St. Catherine Labouré in an apparition of the Blessed Virgin in 1830. Coined to the exact specifications of Our Lady, so many blessings, graces and miracles have been granted to those who wear it, that it has consequently become known as the “Miraculous Medal.” 

“We need to get a Miraculous Medal to him!”  I told my mother. She enthusiastically agreed. My sister thought it a good idea, and asked a colleague of the sick man to deliver a medal to the hospital to be placed under his pillow (regulations forbade any metal on patients).

As we prayed, and shortly after the devotional was placed under his head, something incredible happened: the comatose began mumbling! The decision to disconnect life support was put on hold.

A few weeks later, the young man was released from the hospital and soon returned to work. He warmly thanked my sister for sending him the devotional and confided in her that he believed the Miraculous Medal saved his life.

By Andrea F. Phillips

Click here to your free Novena and Miraculous Medal