There's a continuous thread that unites Pier Giorgio's entire existence: his dedication to the poor. From the time he burst into tears as a child for the poor, chased away by his father, who " perhaps was sent by Jesus ," and took off his shoes and socks to furtively give to the mother of the half-naked child who knocked on his door, to the note he wrote on his deathbed, his dedication to those in need was constant.
When asked how he tolerates the odors and dirt, he replies: " Never forget that even if the house is filthy, you are drawing closer to Christ! " Thus Pier Giorgio doesn't love the poor : he loves every poor person . And the Conferences of Saint Vincent —which he has joined with conviction since he was seventeen and invites his friends to join—are not for him the fulfillment of a good Catholic's duty, but a means of ensuring the continuity of charitable works.
It is not a humanitarian and philanthropic impulse: if it were so it would not have the continuity and intensity that Pier Giorgio pours forth. It does not come from a romantic idea of poverty: if it were so it would not be able to resist the stench of the dirty and narrow houses where he assiduously climbs.
" I would abolish certain St. Vincent de Paul conferences. When there are men who, despite being full of Christian zeal, prefer to give up when faced with difficulties, it is better for the conference not to exist. Not because they are acting in bad faith, but because it is not suited to the times ." This is his opinion. His style, however, is to never back down as soon as he sees he can do something for someone, no matter the cost.
He carries within himself the warning of the Gospel: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about your body, what you will put on... But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Lk 12,22.31:XNUMX).
" I am poor like all the poor ," he tells a friend. And it's true: he has chosen to keep nothing for himself. His chronic lack of money is proverbial, his detachment from family assets is avowed. But it's the attitude with which he enters people's homes, when he introduces himself as "a brother of St. Vincent de Paul," that reveals the true meaning of the phrase: the respect, the sensitivity, the patience in listening to the complaints of the poor, the solicitude and simplicity with which he responds to their needs, even those unexpressed, demonstrate a charity that doesn't descend from above, but grows side by side.
Life is a gift: life is to be given. There is nothing to keep for oneself, because nothing belongs to us.
When Pier Giorgio died, C. came to me and cried a lot, saying that her strongest arm had been lost, and she spoke and continued to cry for all the good that son had done for her. She told how thanks to him she had been able to stay on maternity leave much longer, how he had taken care of having her transported, and how he was godfather to her baby and had her dress made for her baptism; how, when her husband, who was used to getting drunk, came out of prison, Pier Giorgio Frassati went to wait for him and took him to work in a factory where they didn't require a criminal record. This is what Pier Giorgio was for the poor.
Italy Fog by L. Frassati, My Brother Pier Giorgio. Charity
His favorite destination was the Cottolengo. He passed through the wards with watchful and confident charity, consoling the poor and willingly stopping to talk to them, as if they were truly brothers, as he called them, and bringing money, sweets and clothes, and not forgetting, beyond any human repulsion and any fear of possible contagion, to kiss them like the dearest friend.
Mario Ghemlera from L. Frassati, My Brother Pier Giorgio. Charity
No: action cannot be limited to the first, sweet, immediate, merciful, Samaritan intervention of the conferences of St. Vincent: massive, collective interventions are needed: a different social architecture is needed that gives society - and the state that expresses it - a different face and a different structure.
Pier Giorgio who, as a Vincentian brother, visits the families of the poor and Pier Giorgio who militates in the "left-wing" ranks of the PPI are the same Pier Giorgio: the one action necessarily integrates with the other: together, they form the social fabric, so to speak, of Christian intervention in a sick society.
Giorgio La Pira from L. Frassati, The Social and Political Commitment of Pier Giorgio