July 4 is the feast day of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian man who loved the great outdoors and his Catholic faith. He was also a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Apostleship of Prayer, and St. Vincent de Paul Society, and active in Italian politics.
Besides being a man devoted to frequent prayer, Frassati had a great love of the poor and never ceased helping them. In fact, it was the poor of the city who petitioned the Archbishop of Turin to begin the cause for Frassati’s canonization.
To help us appreciate this man whom John Paul II called “The Man of the Beatitudes,” here are ten inspiring quotes from a man who died young, but gave his all to Christ:
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1) “The higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ.”
2) “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.”
3) “Jesus is with me. I have nothing to fear.”
4) “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.”
5) “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.’”
6) “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.”
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7) “You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be, so long as my trust in God gives me strength. We must always be cheerful. Sadness should be banished from all Christian souls. For suffering is a far different thing from sadness, which is the worst disease of all. It is almost always caused by lack of Faith. But the purpose for which we have been created shows us the path along which we should go, perhaps strewn with many thorns, but not a sad path. Even in the midst of intense suffering it is one of joy.”
8) “God gives us health so that we may serve the sick.”
9) “Suffering that is nourished by the flame of faith becomes something beautiful, because it tempers the soul to deal with suffering.”
10) “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.”
