Soon-to-be saint’s relic a reminder of a real person who ‘chose Christ above all’

Almost 20 years ago, a young seminarian studying in Rome drew inspiration from the example of then Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. What he brought back with him fostered an even greater devotion to the would-be saint.

A second-class relic of Blessed Frassati was given to the seminarian – now Father Jason Parzynski, pastor of St. David the King Parish, Princeton Junction – by Frassati’s niece Wanda Gawronska in 2006. Since then, it has been a constant reminder of the young saint’s holy life.

“While in seminary I developed a strong devotion to Pier Giorgio, deeply inspired by his joyful faith and example,” Father Parzynski said. “The relic is a fragment of the bedsheets upon which he died at the age of 24.”

On Sept. 6-7, the weekend of his canonization along with Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. David the King Parish celebrate with opportunities for prayer, catechesis and fellowship, “raising awareness of these two inspiring modern saints and inviting our parishioners, especially our young people, to follow their example of holiness,” he continued.

Admired for his deep spirituality, enthusiasm for life and love for the poor, Pier Giorgio served the sick through the St. Vincent de Paul Society as a Third Order Dominican. He died of polio in 1925.

“To receive this relic was both an honor and a privilege,” Father Parzynski said. “Because relics are never meant for private devotion alone, I have always tried to make it available for the wider faithful to venerate and to draw strength from Pier Giorgio’s witness.”

In 2022, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., established Blessed Pier Giorgio as a diocesan patron for vocations and Blessed Carlo as diocesan patron of Catholic youth and school and religious ed children.

“Frassati is proof that sanctity does not require a long life or an early death – only a life, whatever its length, lived with and for the Lord,” wrote Bishop O’Connell in his 2018-2019 Year of Youth Young Saint Series. “For young people in today’s world, the 24-year-old Pier Giorgio Frassati shows us that saints can and do look like them.”

The relic of St. Frassati is on display in St. David the King Parish’s Frassati Youth Hall, which was renamed in his honor last year.

“It serves as a daily reminder to our youth of his inspiring witness,” said Father Parzynski. “My hope is that the relic becomes a kind of bridge – helping young people to connect with Pier Giorgio as a real person who walked this earth, faced real challenges, and still chose Christ above all. In particular, I hope they are moved by his Eucharistic-centered life, and that his example encourages them to seek Christ in the same profound way.”