Praying on the Throne of St. Gregory the Great

When Luciana Frassati was asked if she prayed to Pier Giorgio for her intentions, she answered, “No. He’s my brother; I just tell him what to do!”

I laughed when I first heard this.  Such classic brother-sister banter!  A lot of that went on among my five brothers and four sisters.  Who you could successfully boss around depended on where you fell in the birth order.

Upon reflection, though, Luciana's comment strikes me less as banter and more as a window into the beautiful relationship she shared with her brother.  They were so close and he loved her so much and would have been happy to do anything for her.  No wonder that she would expect the same of him from heaven as she did on earth.  In that sense, I would call what she said a prayer.  In fact, it was the most confident type of prayer, as she believed what she said would be done.

I was given an unusual and unforgettable lesson in this type of prayer by a monk in the Church of St. Gregory in Rome.  It happened during one of my extended visits to work on Frassati matters and always comes to mind when the feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great rolls around.

My brother Gregory received a kidney transplant on Pier Giorgio's feast day that year.  Talk about an answer to prayer!  While in Rome, I was notified by family that he was experiencing serious complications and so I decided to find the Church of St. Gregory and pray for his healing.

The church was quite empty when I arrived.  After praying a bit, I went to offer a Mass for my brother.  My Italian back then wasn't the best so the man at the desk phoned for an English-speaking monk to come talk to me.  That monk listened to my story but then called for the superior of the order.  I really was confused by the confusion my simple request seemed to be causing in either language.

Eventually the superior arrived and kindly agreed to say a Mass for my brother that very day. Then he asked me if I had sat on St. Gregory's throne to pray for my brother. When I said I hadn’t, he whisked me back inside the church and absolutely insisted that I sit and pray on that throne. 

“You must pray and really believe,” he said. Then he turned and walked out! 

It was a bizarre experience to find myself being practically ordered to sit and pray on a great pope's throne.  On one hand, I considered the whole situation to be a special consolation from Pier Giorgio that my brother Greg was going to be okay.  On the other hand, I had no idea how long I needed to sit there to convince those monks that I really believed that what I was praying for would be granted.  Awkward! :) 

Over the years, I’ve been asked many times about my spiritual connection with Blessed Pier Giorgio.  Has he ever appeared to me?  No.  His portrait hangs in my staircase and we talk a lot, friend to friend.  Well, I talk, he listens.  Unlike his sister, I don't "just tell him what to do."  But I ask for his help and often feel his presence as I did on that unusual day at the Church of St. Gregory. 

Pier Giorgio said, “Prayer is the noble supplication which we lift up to the throne of God.  It is the most efficient means to obtain from God the graces which we need, and especially the strength of persevering in these times.”

Pray, then, and believe. Really believe.

Verso l’alto!  ///cmw