The Heights and the Highway

Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati was born just after the turn of the century in 1901 in Turin, Italy, to an agnostic father and a Catholic mother. Even from an early age, Pier Giorgio had begun to demonstrate his love for the Gospel by the love he showed to the poor and destitute in Turin. If there ever was a person who was in need of food, clothing, or money, Pier Giorgio was the first on his feet to give to them.

As he grew older, he began to get more involved with his local community, to the point where he was a heavy participant in Catholic Action. This was a group dedicated to the renewal and preservation of the Catholic faith in countries where believing in Jesus would leave one ostracized by the institutions and societal conventions. At the time, Fascism was on the rise in Italy, and Pier Giorgio was a staunch opponent of such a toxic ideology.

But he was not limited to political activities. He had hobbies and dreams of his own, all centered on Christ and reflecting God’s love to his neighbors, family, and friends. He dreamed of becoming a mining engineer, not for wealth, but so he could be among those brave souls deep underground with the light of the Gospel shining from his soul for them to hear. Upon his graduation from high school, he had the choice of getting a car or money. He chose money so he could give it away to the poor.

One of his most well-known activities is mountain climbing. He would take groups of friends to ascend these ranges in Italy for physical and spiritual purposes. Physically, mountain climbing takes a toll on the body while also building up muscle. Spiritually, it gets individuals to seek the heights of Christ. What do I mean by this?

In the Christian journey, an individual has three choices: ascend, remain, or descend. To descend is to revert or delve deeper into sin, leading your soul astray from Christ, likened to “giving up” the climb and going back to where it is comfortable, but a life without purpose.

To remain is to stagnate and place oneself in their own artificial limbo, where one seeks the heights but cannot look past their fears of losing what they hold dear for the sake of Christ. Paradoxically, they also do not want to leave a life built on Christ. As a result, they remain mid-climb or holding onto a crevice, unable to climb up or drop down.

The final one, ascend, is an action where the Christian acknowledges they are flawed but are taking active steps in the nourishment and growth of the soul. Every man or woman in Christ who seeks the heights knows that they must be unburdened of their sins and their failings in order to take up the easy and light yoke of Christ. As one climbs, they are tested. If their life’s goal is truly Christ first and Christ alone, then they are willing to forgo the idols and habits that keep them from reaching the heights of glory found only in Heaven.

This is the life that Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati lived. He was by no means perfect on Earth, but he understood first and foremost the importance of the heights for one’s spiritual welfare. He understood the value of the Saints and their intercession, himself being devoted to St. Paul’s writings. He once wrote to a friend, “There is a lack of Peace in the world which has distanced itself from God, but there is also a lack of Charity; that is, true and perfect Love. Maybe if all of us listened more to St. Paul, human miseries would be slightly diminished.” This rings true for all of us today. One of St. Paul’s most famous writings concerns how to love, found in the thirteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. To summarize, this passage speaks of love in sacrificial terms: to choose the other rather than inflate the self. It calls us to recognize that one may be the most astute theologian, the most charismatic prophet, even wise beyond all estimations of academia, but without this radical self-gift to others, we amount to nothing more than being “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1).

Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati had this passage written onto his heart when it came to his day-to-day life. It did not matter if he was talking to his best friend since childhood, his beloved sister, his parents whom he never stopped sharing the Faith with, his classmates of varying levels of friendship, or the homeless and destitute he encountered during his studies. He gave and gave as much as he could to those who were less fortunate than his noble heritage. He had made such a radical self-gift that even as he lay dying of polio, he refused medicine that would have eased his suffering so that another man also stricken with this disease received it instead.

On July 4, 1925, Pier Giorgio Frassati passed away after spending twenty-four years of his life always seeking the heights of Heaven while nourishing the depths of his soul. At his funeral, thousands turned out in support of Pier Giorgio. Among them were his friends, relatives, various acquaintances, and an uncountable multitude of the poor and destitute. They did not come to pay respects because he was rich or had financial connections. They went because he always presented himself as a gift to those around him. His generosity, acts of love, and charitable deeds were repaid ten thousandfold and more when his soul was received into Heaven as Jesus proclaimed these words to him: “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”

It was not long before people began asking for his intercession over the years. Even with opposition from the infamous Italian dictator Mussolini, it did not stop the poor from venerating and honoring such a noble figure. He quickly became a patron for the youth, especially those who lack direction in their lives. For them, he is an essential part of the deeper conversion into the Faith for countless young men and women. He helped a multitude to understand that they should not stagnate in their journey and let it wither in complacency, but instead, to take a leap of Faith and keep climbing as their spiritual muscles strengthen with every ragged step and pull taken until they, too, could hear those most sought-after words from Jesus at the end.

Sixty-six years later, in the city of London, England, Carlo Acutis was born. Like Pier Giorgio Frassati, Carlo Acutis was born to a wealthy Italian family. Within months, his family returned to Italy. His parents were not particularly faithful to God. His mother had only attended Mass twice in her life prior to her son’s birth. Even in this environment, God worked wonders in revealing Himself to the young Carlo.

As a child, he had a special devotion to the Eucharist. Whenever he was walking with his mother, he always made it a point to visit Jesus in the Tabernacle every time he saw a Catholic Church. His mother obliged, not knowing that this would transform the trajectory of her son’s young life. Every Sunday, he would have a Holy Hour before and after the Holy Mass, adoring the Lord within the Tabernacle. Perhaps it was this devotion to the Eucharist that drove this young man to create a wonderful website that catalogues the countless proofs of Eucharistic miracles all around the world. He travelled to churches all over Italy, personally documenting the Eucharistic miracles that occurred there.

One of his most commonly known sayings is that the “Eucharist is the Highway to Heaven.” The Eucharist, as he understood, was not a mere symbol or a piece of bread that is a mere allusion to Christ, but is Christ Himself. Jesus Himself says that the Gate to Heaven “is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14). Yet, as we also know from Saint Paul, “I can do all things in [Christ] who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). To receive the Eucharist in Faith is to receive Christ Himself. To receive Christ is to have one’s soul fortified and strengthened for the narrow path, so that one may travel on it in Faith as one would drive down Route 287 on a quiet Saturday morning. This is the truth that Carlo Acutis lived by: to have his life rooted in Christ. In a sense, he had baptized the internet—from a mere instrument of the secular world to conduct business and entertainment, Carlo blessed the World Wide Web with the omnipotent grace of God through the Eucharist. In a way, he was a modern Saint Thomas Aquinas, who had used Aristotelian philosophy that was once used to disprove God and turned it into one of the greatest pieces of logical evidence for His existence. Carlo Acutis used the internet, which has caused a great apostasy of our youth, as an avenue to access the Faith for a modern audience and paved the way for personalities such as Fr. Mike Schmitz and Lila Rose to present the Faith to our youth through the screen.

Outside of church, Carlo Acutis lived out the virtues that the Lord called him to live. Every person he encountered, whether his teammates on the soccer team or the homeless in Milan, encountered Christ in his actions and words. Whenever he walked the streets of the city, he brought food, blankets, and clothes for the less fortunate to have, sharing his family’s wealth. He was not the best student in his class, but always displayed a healthy curiosity for the Faith—all because his mission was driven to satisfy God’s will in all areas of his everyday life.

This was the life that Saint Carlo lived: an extraordinary life in ordinary circumstances. In the advent of the internet, the PS2, Halo, Super Mario, Pokémon, and global connections within hand’s reach, Carlo exemplified the heroics of the Saints of Antiquity and the Gothic eras. While his friends chased worldly allures, Saint Carlo chose to place his trust in Jesus and called his companions out of the storm into the shelter that is Christ. He was not afraid to correct them in their mistakes, but was bold in proclaiming the truth to them. Whenever someone blasphemed Christ, he did not resort to anger but prayed for them instead and often invited those around him (such as his mother) to pray for them as well.

At a young age, Carlo was called into the Lord’s arms at the age of 15. He passed away from leukemia. In spite of being afflicted with a painful disease, Carlo was not discouraged from his faith. Rather, it was strengthened as he continued to pray the Rosary and comfort those that visited him, especially his mother. In spite of his short life, Carlo Acutis lived one that allowed him to join the chorus of Saints in Heaven, praising God and interceding for us today. Right by his side, I like to think, is Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati.

If one were to not know about their lives in Christ, one would see that the two of them are opposites in many regards. On one hand, there is Pier Giorgio Frassati: the mountaineer who dared to defy gravity and was on his way to becoming a mining engineer. On the other is Carlo Acutis: a teenager who lived in the digital age and Spider-Man movies. But it is precisely their lives anchored in Christ that bring these men together as models for our youth today. In spite of the challenges of their respective ages, Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Carlo Acutis rejected the vices of the world and embraced the love of Christ.

At St. Ann Classical Academy, the lives of the Saints are exemplary tales that we convey to our students on a regular basis to show them that we can live lives of holiness, regardless of our circumstances and age. A common misconception, even amongst fellow Catholics, is that the Saints lived lives that are impossible for us to follow, like Saint Peter and Saint Catherine of Siena. One would think that becoming a Saint is an antiquated idea or for extremely holy and popular people in religious vocations such as Pope Saint John Paul II and Saint Teresa of Ávila. However, the hope of the Holy Mother Church is that the canonizations of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Carlo Acutis will herald a new age for our Faith. The mother of Carlo Acutis, Antonia, had a dream shortly after her son's death where Saint Francis of Assisi told her that “after [Carlo] is beatified, there will be a whole new generation of Saints. Thanks to him.”

According to recent studies, Gen Z (born 1998–2010) is one of the most religious generations in America. Countless numbers of our youth are flocking to the care of the Good Shepherd, thanks to the intercessions of our young Saints. The number of people who believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is growing, especially amongst the young generation of Catholics. The mission of St. Ann Classical Academy is to help these young men and women sharpen their Faith like iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). Each of them exemplified ways of loving people even if they may not always have the means of doing so. They have shown us that loving the poor, the homeless, and the unfortunate is as simple, yet daunting, as a conversation with them on the sidewalk or giving them a granola bar.

But the Saints, like Pier Giorgio and Carlo, are not just models or historical figures we read about in order to just “become better.” They are powerful intercessors who desire Saints called forth from our generation. The youth today experience challenges unique to their generation, some of whom experienced major academic and social disruptions because of Covid-19. Many turn to their screens as a coping mechanism with little to no temperance to manage their vices. They lack the boldness and drive to ascend the heights, gradually being unburdened of the heavy load the world calls them to carry, whether they are financial, social, or cultural. Our young men and women have been stripped of their courage to lead and answer the call that God placed in their hearts. Today’s culture has given them “permission” to act freely as they wish without consequences or regard for their fellow human beings. They have been drilled to feign compassion for causes they care little about, seeking only to “fit in” with the crowd, regardless of the research they do on their own (or lack thereof), even taking part in trends and buying into beliefs that are anti-Christian in nature. This is the world that our current generation of students lives in—not that far off from the world that Pier Giorgio and Carlo lived in. These two understand well the problems that plague the modern world. With their intercession to guard and protect our youth from these dangers, we can raise a new generation of Saints in a world that shuns or secludes Christ underground.

If the Eucharist is the Highway to Heaven, as Saint Carlo so beautifully puts it, the Saints are our heroes to aspire to be. Carlo Acutis was not an astute theologian like Saint Augustine of Hippo, nor was he a heroic soldier of the Church like Saint Joan of Arc. Pier Giorgio did not travel to India to evangelize like Saint Thomas or was martyred by his government like José Sánchez del Río. But to relegate Carlo as a gamer and Pier Giorgio as a mountaineer does a disservice to the life they lived in Christ. It was their heroic faith in the modern world that makes them the Saints that they are today—all because they made the heroic everyday decision to follow Christ, not the crowd leading the blind into destruction in this life and the eternity afterward. They chose Christ from when they were adopted at their Baptisms until the hour of their death, choosing to love God and love others in spite of the pain they suffered. They are not the endgame for our Faith, for their model is not themselves in their flawed humanity. Instead, our key to eternity is the perfection found only in Jesus Christ, the source of all knowledge and wisdom.