Pier Giorgio once wrote that we should never just exist but live. And even though his life was short, lived it was. It was packed full of interests and activities. He loved swimming, sailing, skiing, hiking, biking, fencing, and horseback riding.  But his real passion was mountain climbing, which he organized with his friends, and served as opportunities for his apostolic work. He never missed a chance to lead his friends to Mass, to the reading of scripture, and to praying the rosary. He studied engineering; he took piano, dance lessons, and loved to sing. He had a rich sense of humor and a limitless love for God. Even though he was born into an influential family, he preferred to spend his time serving the poor and forgotten.

The Society of the Tipi Loschi was a group founded by Pier Giorgio. It consisted of a few of his closest friends, both men and women.  The primary activity was the organization of hikes, mountain climbing, or other excursions. The name translates to “shady characters”, and reflects the humor he was known for. Despite all of the playfulness surrounding the group, there was an underlying serious aspect to it. He formed the group knowing that his friends were starting to go their separate ways as they were finishing college, marrying, beginning careers, etc. His desire was that they would form a permanent bond through union in prayer and be a source of mutual spiritual support for one another as they met the daily challenges of life.

A month before his death, Pier Giorgio Frassati and some of his friends had been climbing in the Val di Lanzo, where some difficult points had to be overcome by climbing or by using a double rope. On the back of the photo which shows him holding onto the rock gazing up toward his goal, he later wrote the words, “Verso l’alto” — or, in English, “toward the top” or “to the heights.” It is a short phrase which synthesizes his way of life: always seeking what enhances, that which carries us beyond ourselves, toward the best we can be as people, toward the best of ourselves. It is to strive toward perfection of life; in other words, toward sainthood. It means to strive toward the source of life, that is, God.

Blessed Frassati knew well the struggle of living a life of Holiness, and understood that it is best achieved in community.  It is his boundless joy, zeal for fraternal charity and the idea of intentional community, that the Frassati houses are named. May we always help each other to ever strive toward the top.