Blog - May 2008 RSS Feed

I have a little update on the preparations for Pier Giorgio's trip to Sydney, Australia. A new coffin (satisfying Australian import requirements) was constructed to hold Pier Giorgio's mortal remains.

Pier Giorgio was very concerned about the soldiers who served Italy in World War I and afterward. This is one of the stories about how he reached out to men who were complete strangers out of concern for their spiritual welfare.

It was 18 years ago today that Pier Giorgio was beatified. How many more years will go by before he is canonized? Nobody knows. The canonization process requires another miracle to be reported and attributed to the intercession of Pier Giorgio.

It has been a long time in coming, but we are getting very close to being able to read Pier Giorgio's letters in English. Pier Giorgio was a true correspondent.

Especially now, the headlines are filled with the sad news of death and devastation following various natural disasters. In Myanmar, the struggle to bring aid to the afflicted has been disturbing.

A couple of years ago, I visited Siena and viewed the head of St. Catherine which is on display there. In an email to some family and friends, I talked about that experience and mentioned that I would have to wait until I got to Rome to pray at the tomb of St. Catherine where the rest of her body is located in the beautiful basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

All throughout my life, I have had to spell and repeat my last name for people because it is a bit unusual. It's actually a very simple name, a mere five letters, but not very common.

By now, you have heard the news that the mortal remains of Pier Giorgio, found to be perfectly incorrupt in 1981, will be present in Sydney, Australia, for this summer's World Youth Day festivities.

People often ask me how I got involved in the work of promoting Pier Giorgio. To be honest, I had never heard of him until 13 years ago.

Ever since FrassatiUSA was established, I have had the tremendous privilege of communicating with many of you and hearing wonderful stories about how Pier Giorgio is working in your lives.