"To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing."

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born in Turin, Italy on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901. His father, an agnostic, was the founder and director of the liberal newspaper, La Stampa, and was influential in Italian politics, serving a term as senator, and later was Italy's ambassador to Germany. He spent the flower of his youth between two world wars when Italy was in social ferment and Fascism was on the rise.

Pier Giorgio developed a deep spiritual life which he never hesitated to share with his friends. In 1918 he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to serving the sick and the needy. He decided to become a mining engineer so he could "serve Christ better among the miners," as he told a friend. His studies, however, did not keep him from social activism.

In 1919, he joined the Catholic Student Federation and the Popular Party, a political organization which promoted the Catholic Church's teachings. He even entertained the idea of merging the Catholic Student Federation with the Catholic Workers' Organization.

"Charity is not enough: we need social reform," he used to say, as he worked for both. He also gave his time to help establish a Catholic daily newspaper Momento which was based on the principles of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on social and economic matters, Rerum Novarum.

Although the Frassati family was well-to-do, the father was frugal and never gave his two children much spending money. What little he did have, however, Pier Giorgio gave to help the poor, even using his train fare for charity and then running home to be on time for meals in a house where punctuality and frugality were the law. When asked by friends why he often rode third class on the trains he would reply with a smile, "Because there is not a fourth class."

When he was a child a poor mother with a boy in tow came begging to the Frassati home. Pier Giorgio answered the door, and seeing the boy's shoeless feet gave him his own shoes. At graduation, given the choice by his father of money or a car he chose the money and gave it to the poor. He obtained a room for a poor old woman evicted from her tenement, provided a bed for a consumptive invalid, supported three children of a sick and grieving widow. He kept a small ledger book containing detailed accounts of his transactions, and while he lay on his death bed, he gave instructions to his sister, asking her to see to the needs of families who depended on his charity. He even took the time, with a near-paralyzed hand, to write a note to a friend in the St. Vincent de Paul Society with instructions regarding their weekly Friday visits. Only God knew of these charities; he never mentioned them to others.

At the Italian embassy in Berlin, he was admired by a German news reporter who wrote: "One night in Berlin, with the temperature at twelve degrees below zero, he gave his overcoat to a poor old man shivering with cold. His father scolded him, and he replied simply and matter-of-factly: 'But you see, papa, it was cold.'"

Pier Giorgio also spent time in the countryside with friends; mountain climbing was one of his favorite sports. On these outings, however, the young friends (who, in a bit of irony, called themselves "The Sinister Ones") did not hesitate to share their religious inspiration and spiritual lives. Beneath the smiling exterior of the restless university student was concealed the amazing life of a mystic. Love for Jesus motivated his actions. He assisted at Mass and communion daily, often serving Mass and making a lengthy thanksgiving afterwards.

He felt a strong, mysterious urge to be near the Blessed Sacrament. During nocturnal adoration, he would spend all night on his knees in profound prayer. He influenced other students to make the annual university retreat given by the Jesuits. He loved the rosary, a family practice, and prayed it three times daily after becoming a Dominican tertiary.

He made it a regular habit upon returning from skiing to visit the Blessed Sacrament, and attending Mass before going to the mountains. He wrote to a friend, "I left my heart on the mountain peaks and I hope to retrieve it this summer when I climb Mt. Blanc. If my studies permitted, I would spend whole days on the mountains admiring in that pure atmosphere the magnificence of God."

Frassati was also imbued with the refinement of higher education and the upper class Turinese milieu. He frequented opera, theaters, and museums; he loved art and music and could quote whole chunks of Dante.

In 1922 he joined the Dominican Third Order choosing the name Girolamo after his personal hero, the Dominican preacher and reformer of Florence's Renaissance. Despite the many organizations to which Pier Giorgio belonged, he was not a passive "joiner"; records show that he was active and involved in each, fulfilling all the duties of membership. Pier Giorgio was strongly anti-fascist and did nothing to hide his political views.

Participating in a Church-organized demonstration in Rome, he withstood police violence and rallied the other young people by grabbing the banner which the police had knocked out of someone else's hands. He held it even higher while using the pole to ward off their blows. When the demonstrators were arrested by the police, he refused special treatment that he might have received because of his father's political position, preferring to stay with his friends. One night a group of fascists broke into his family's home to attack him and his father. Pier Giorgio beat them off single-handedly chasing them down the street calling them, "Blackguards! Cowards!"

In late June 1925 Pier Giorgio was afflicted by an acute attack of poliomyelitis which doctors later speculated he caught from the poor and sick whom he tended. Neglecting his own health because his grandmother was dying, his illness was too advanced for anyone to treat when doctors discovered how weak he was. Pier Giorgio died on July 4, 1925, at the age of 24.

His family expected Turin's elite and political figures to come to offer their condolences and attend the funeral; they naturally expected to find many of his friends there as well. They were surprised, however, to find the streets of the city lined with thousands of mourners as the cortege passed by. Those who mourned his death most were the poor and needy whom he had served so unselfishly for seven years; many of these, in turn, were surprised to learn that the saintly young man they new only as "Fra Girolamo" came from such an influential family. It was these poor people who petitioned the Archbishop of Turin to begin the cause for canonization. The process was opened in 1932 and he was beatified on May 20, 1990. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's feast day is July 4.

"One ought to go and one goes. It is not those who suffer violence that should fear, but those who practice it. When God is with us, we do not need to be afraid.�

The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, by Teresa of Avila

"I used to pray to our Lord for help; but, as it now seems to
me, I must have committed the fault of not putting my whole trust
in His Majesty, and of not thoroughly distrusting myself.
I sought for help, took great pains; but it must be that I did
not understand how all is of little profit if we do not root out
all confidence in ourselves, and place it wholly in God. I wished
to live, but I saw clearly that I was not living, but rather
wrestling with the shadow of death; there was no one to give me
life, and I was not able to take it.  He Who could have given it
me had good reasons for not coming to my aid, seeing that He had
brought me back to Himself so many times, and I as often had
left Him."  

You can read the entire text of 
The Life of Saint Teresa of Jesus 
at Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/7trsa10.txt

Agatha of Sicily

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Agatha of Sicily
The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha, by Sebastiano del Piombo
Virgin and Martyr
Born	3rd century AD, Catania or Palermo
Died	c. 251, Catania
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Churches Oriental Orthodoxy
Feast	February 5th
Attributes	shears, tongs, breasts on a plate
Patronage	Ali, Sicily; bellfounders; breast cancer; bakers, Catania, Sicily; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mt. Etna; fire; jewelers; marters; natural disasters; nurses. Palermo, Sicily; rape victims; San Marino; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wet nurses; Zamarramala, Spain

Agatha of Sicily, or Saint Agatha (died ) is a Christian saint. Her memorial is on 5th of February. Agatha was born at Catana and she was martyred in approximately 251. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.

According to variations of her legend, having rejected the amorous advances of a Roman prefect, she was persecuted by him for her Christian faith. Among the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts. She is therefore often depicted iconographically carrying her excised breasts on a platter.

The shape of her amputated breasts, especially as depicted in artistic renderings, gave rise to her attribution as the patron saint of bell-founders and as the patron saint of bakers. More recently, she has been venerated as patron saint of breast cancer patients.

Her scorned admirer eventually sentenced her to death by being burnt at stake.  However, she was saved from this fate by a mysterious earthquake. She later died in prison.

She is the patron saint of Catania, of San Marino, and of Malta because her intercession is reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.

In Torricella Peligna, she is revered and sought after at a fountain whose water is said to increase breast health and breast milk for nursing mothers.

The territory of Torricella has a particularly large number of rural fountains built to gather and make the best use of water sources.  Most of these were built or restructured during the 1800s, a century which witnessed the building of many new fountains and the restoration or reconstruction of older fountains, even ones dating back to Roman times, as in the one near the Juvanum archeological site.  Some fountains did not undergo restructuring in the 1800s.  The oldest fountains in the area to remain intact were the 16 ^th century “La Fonte” in the territory of Altino, the “Pila” near Gessopalena built in 1716, and just before that the one in Rosello. The territory of Torricella has a particularly large number of rural fountains built to gather and make the best use of water sources. Most of these were built or restructured during the 1800s, a century which witnessed the building of many new fountains and the restoration or reconstruction of older fountains, even ones dating back to Roman times, as in the one near the archeological site Juvanum. Some fountains did not undergo restructuring in the 1800s. The oldest fountains in the area to remain intact were the 16 ^th century "The Source" in the territory of Altino, the "Stack" near Gessopalena built in 1716, and just before that the one in Rosello.

Generally, the fountains in the area are characterized by their spouts, often decorated with large allegoric masks as in the beautiful fountain of Fallascoso, as well as their large basins built of stone or brick.  The basins were designed to allow animals to drink whereas those in the valleys were designed more to wash clothes, and in rare occasions also to macerate hemp fiber.  There were irrigated vegetable gardens surrounding the fountains, especially near inhabited areas. Generally, the fountains in the area are characterized by their spouts, often decorated with large allegoric masks as in the beautiful fountain of Fallascoso, as well as their large basins built of stone or brick. The basins were designed to allow animals to drink whereas those in the valleys were designed more to wash clothes, and on rare occasions also to macerated hemp fiber. There were irrigated vegetable gardens surrounding the fountains, especially near inhabited areas.

In the medieval and renaissance eras, the integrity of the springs and fountains was guaranteed by strict norms and regulations codified in the ancient municipal statutes, as in those for Altino from the 1400s, all with the intention of preventing the pollution of water sources.  Therefore, animals, especially pigs, could not feed near fountains and wells, and human forms of pollution, including the depositing of human waste, were prohibited. In the medieval and renaissance eras, the integrity of the springs and fountains was guaranteed by strict norms and regulations codified in the ancient municipal statutes, as in those for Altino from the 1400s, all with the intention of preventing the pollution of water sources. Therefore , animals, especially pigs, could not feed near fountains and wells, and human forms of pollution, including the depositing of human waste, were prohibited.

Some fountains were well known for their miraculous qualities; consequently, they became objects of their own cults with probable ancient roots.  One of these is the Fontana delle Sese, positioned along the Tratturo (sheep track) in the Colle Zingaro hamlet of Torricella.  This fountain was believed to promote milk production, and women were drawn to its waters for this purpose. 

Undoubtedly, fountains were very important places to socialize, especially for women who spent time there on a daily basis to collect water or wash clothes.  Near sources of water women met, exchanged ideas and chatted.  At times fountains were also the scenes of elusive romantic encounters.  At the beginning of the 1900s, the first aqueducts were constructed and the fountains began to lose importance.  Thus, these places that had been so alive and so central to everyday life fell regrettably into oblivion and abandon. Undoubtedly, fountains were very important places to socialize, especially for women who spent time there on a daily basis to collect water or wash clothes. Near sources of water women met, exchanged ideas and chatted. At times fountains were also the scenes of romantic elusive encounters. At the beginning of the 1900s, the first aqueducts were constructed and the fountains began to lose importance. Thus, these places that had been so alive and so central to everyday life regrettably fell into oblivion and abandon.

Produced by:  A. Produced by: A. Lanci Allestimenti Museali - Lanciano (CH) Launches museum - Lanciano (CH)