Pier Giorgio Frassati is another modern saint (or technically, beatus, but this is published in the Great Saints Series, and I am sure he is on his way to formal recognition as such).
Born of an influential Turin family (his father owned and ran La Stampa, until forced to sell it for refusing to print pro-fascist articles) he had quite a tough childhood, and yet from an early age developed a very active faith.
Founded in prayer, his life was characterised by an active love of the poor, a cheerful disposition and love of life, and singular generosity of spirit, to the point of heroism. Like his father, he would have no truck with Fascism and was public in his disdain for it; he even single-handedly chased off a bunch of Fascist thugs who had been sent one night to intimidate his family.
But it was his generosity towards, and solidarity with, poor people that was most notable. He gave away almost everything, from his clothes and food to his tram pass and his university text books, to people who had less than he had, and clearly did so in a way that was not patronising, for poor people turned out in huge numbers (to his family's astonishment) to pay their respects to him when he died at the age of 24.
He seems to me to be a model for saints in modern times; and his story is told in a clear and vivid manner in this booklet, which I highly recommend.
Unlike the last CTS booklet I reviewed, this is remarkably free from typos and other infelicities. In fact I only found one, which was the picture credit for the front cover image: 'A Catholic Man kisses the coffin of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.' Clearly they changed the cover, but forgot to change this detail.
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