Did you know that Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is the Patron
Saint of Vincentian Youth? He will be canonised on 7th September 2025.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was an Italian Catholic layman, known for
his deep faith, love for the poor, and vibrant personality. He was beatified
by Pope John Paul II in 1990 who described him as the man of the ‘eight
Beatitudes’. Frassati was born in Turin, Italy, in 1901, and died from polio
at the young age of 24.

He was a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Third
Order of Saint Dominic and he dedicated himself to social justice.

Frassati loved the poor. His mother often scolded him for showing up
late to dinner after serving the poor – he usually had to run home after
giving away his bus-fare money. His father chastised him for coming
home without a coat, a regular occurrence since Pier Giorgio used to
give away his own clothes to anyone in need.

It was not simply a matter of giving something to the lonely, the poor, the
sick – but rather, giving his whole self. He saw Jesus in them.
“I see a special light surrounding the poor and unfortunate,” he observed
to a friend, “a light that we do not have.”
He was appointed patron of Vincentian Youth in 2017. His feast day is

July 4th which is also SSVP’s International Youth Day.