Volunteers watching over the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati gently placed items from the faithful on top of his casket to make a third-class relic for the visitors to the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, near Rome’s Pantheon, one afternoon during the Jubilee of Youth.
As visitors knelt in prayer, some pulled from their pockets or backpacks a rosary, prayer card, hat, even a priest’s stole and black shoulder cape to be placed reverently on top of the casket.
The relics of the 20th-century Italian layman, known for his life of service and charity, were brought from his tomb in Turin to Rome for the Jubilee July 28-Aug. 3.
Paul Jarzembowski, associate director for the laity at the USCCB Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, told CNS via a messaging service July 31 that he loves “Pier Giorgio’s well-balanced life and spirituality.”
“He was very devotional in his faith life but also very committed to charity and justice, not to mention a young man who loved sports, parties, outdoor activities, practical jokes, and good food and drink,” said Jarzembowski, who was in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth.
“His was a life that young adults can emulate, showing that maturity in spirit can happen in one’s young adulthood,” he said.
“His short 24-year ordinary life was truly extraordinary,” he said. “Pier Giorgio is a great fusion of how young people and the laity can reveal God’s goodness.”
