Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati Week

I took this pic. Please do not use without permission.

If you don't already know that I'm a massive Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati fangirl, you're definitely new around here. lol. I have written about him a number of times over the past 6 or so years. He, along with St. Therese, was my go-to saint for the majority of my 20s and I know they will both remain with me into my 30s.

So, what does a fangirl do on the 90th anniversary of (one of) her favorite saint's (or, blessed in this case) death / unofficial feast day? Celebrate! No, it's not morbid. I'm not celebrating the fact that he died; I'm celebrating the fact that he existed and that, through him, God was able to give us a wonderful example of how it is possible to live a good, saintly life at a young age.

How am I going to celebrate? Read all the books!... or read the books I haven't read or finished, re-read the ones I have read, watch some of the DVDs I have on him, and then share reviews of them for y'all in case some of y'all aren't too familiar with him and/or want to know more about him.

Today is just an introduction post (the book and DVD reviews begin tomorrow) so here is a repost of one of the first blog posts I wrote about him when I was only 23 years old. Man, I just made myself feel old... lol.

Originally posted: November 25, 2008

"For the past week, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's name has constantly been on my mind. I don't remember how his name came up (I'd only heard it once before when they announced the patron saints for this year's World Youth Day) but I've had this inexplicable (pretty intense) desire to learn as much as I can about him and his life's work. It's similar to how I felt about St. Teresa of Avila almost a year ago.. Anyway, I have been researching... and I've come to find that the things he did during his short life are things that I did as a child, or that I've wanted to do. The main thing is giving to those less fortunate. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I have made a decision which will no doubt leave tension in the household.

Ever since I was a little girl, it has always pained (yes, pained) me to see homeless people. On one of our trips to Mexico, when I was about 11 years old, there was a woman asking for money. She looked at us eating and I felt so bad that I gave her my peanuts. Granted, it wasn't much but it was all I had. She was grateful for it... but, boy, did I get made fun of by my family (one person in particular). That's something I've had to deal with: either get made fun of for what I do or get a lecture, followed by the silent treatment, for trying to help. I spoke to my mom about this on Saturday night and I told her I was determined to donate... I know I'm probably going to get scolded at and there will be unpleasantness for a few days but I have to do this.

... So, instead of spoiling myself for the holidays (I do NOT need to spend more money on iTunes or amazon.com; nor do I need an iPod -- which I've never owned), I'm going to donate money and food. I will donate clothing, if I get the time to go through my stuff before the Christmas deadlines. I've always been afraid of the "consequences" that would come from doing this, mainly because it would be going against one of my parent's wishes and thus I'd be disobeying a parent, but I cannot consciously continue to be scared of what they will say/do. Now that I'm an adult (whoa, scary thought!), and have more resources, I'm going to follow Blessed Pier Giorgio's example and help those who are in need. Maybe that's why he's been on my mind so much lately. Honestly, I did not know much about him up until a week ago.

I'm very grateful that I have been able to learn a little bit about him. I haven't even scratched the surface yet. He's already inspired me to do more for others, as well as get the courage to do it. I mean, he did so much for so many people in his short 24 years on this earth, and shared the wealth he was born into... it's amazing. He's definitely someone to look up to. And to think he was only a little over a year older than I am now when he passed away, it's very sad. Sad, but he's up in Heaven and that makes me smile. :D..."

To this day, what a 23 year-old me wrote still remains true. The current 30 year-old me is pretty happy with my younger self. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati has inspired me to be less selfish and to do more for others. Sadly, the person I spoke of in that blog post is no longer with us but let's just say that I kept my promise and I donated despite the consequences, which I don't remember there being any because I think I was sneaky about it. *shrugs*

Anyway, keep your peepers open for the reviews and possibly more reposts (or snippets of blog posts). Who knows, I may revive the habit I used to have of sharing the Bl. PGF saint dreams I used to have... and still have on occasion. Saint dreams, that is; Bl. PGF hasn't made a dream appearance in a couple of months. ;)

I hope y'all had a great weekend!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D