on Special Prayer for the Poor and the Sick
Dear Friends of Frassati,
A year ago, we began a journey of mercy and charity in preparation for the first feast of our beloved patron, Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, as a canonized saint. What began as an invitation to perform simple acts of mercy has become a reminder that holiness is not something reserved for extraordinary moments. It is built day by day through prayer, sacrifice, friendship, and charity.
Today, as we begin another year of this journey, we are once again invited to look to Pier Giorgio and ask ourselves a simple question: How can I love Christ more concretely through the poor and the sick whom He places in my path?
Pier Giorgio did not treat charity as an occasional activity. It was woven into his daily life. His love for Christ moved him towards the poor, the sick, the lonely, and those whom society often overlooked. His life teaches us that our friendship with Christ must always lead us beyond ourselves and towards our brothers and sisters.
For this reason, the Frassati Society Philippines renews and continues our Nine-Month Journey of Mercy and Charity, beginning 4 October 2026 until 4 June 2027, as we once again prepare to celebrate the feast of Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati next year.
On the 4th day of each month, we invite every member, collaborator, friend, and devotee of Saint Pier Giorgio, whether individually or with a group, to set aside time for prayer and a concrete act of mercy.
Let us pray for the poor and the sick through the Holy Rosary and the Prayer for the Poor and the Sick, and let us accompany our prayer with an actual work of mercy. It may be simple: visiting someone who is sick, feeding someone who is hungry, helping a family in need, giving time to someone who is lonely, comforting someone who is grieving, teaching someone who needs help, or simply offering our presence to another person with genuine love.
What matters is not the size of the act, but the love with which it is offered. As Saint Pier Giorgio reminds us through his life, charity is not merely something we do. It is a way of seeing Christ in another person.
This year, we also invite the Frassati family to mark two special dates with concrete acts of charity:
6 April 2027 – Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati’s Birth Anniversary
A DAY WE DEDICATE ESPECIALLY TO THE POOR.
20 May 2027 – Anniversary of his Beatification
A DAY WE DEDICATE ESPECIALLY TO THE SICK.
On these days, let every Frassati devotee make a deliberate effort to practice at least one Corporal or Spiritual Work of Mercy, in union with our brothers and sisters throughout the Frassati family.
The canonization of Pier Giorgio did not bring his mission to an end. Rather, it gives us a greater responsibility to make his example known and, more importantly, to continue the work of charity that marked his life.
We do not imitate a saint merely by admiring his story. We imitate him by allowing the same love of Christ that transformed his life to transform ours.
May this year’s journey help us to become, in the words of Pope Leo XIV, young people and Christians who do not squander their lives, but instead direct them upwards and make them masterpieces.
Let us therefore continue walking together as friends of Frassati, seeking Christ in prayer, encountering Him in the Eucharist, finding Him among the poor and the sick, and bringing His love wherever we are sent.
May Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati teach us once again that the way towards the heights is never a way away from our brothers and sisters. It is precisely through love of neighbor that we climb towards Christ.
Verso l’alto!
Your brother in Christ,
Br. Karlos Cruz García
Moderator
04 October 2026
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi
