Prayers for the Sister of a Saint

Where were you on August 14, 2006?

I know exactly where I was - not because I have some super memory powers but because I was about to make a transcontinental lifechanging leap of faith. The next day, August 15, 2006, I left behind my life as I knew it and began this great Frassati adventure.  I arrived at the family villa in Pollone on August 16th.  Two days later, I found myself in the midst of a small group of family members and close friends who were celebrating the 104th birthday of Luciana Frassati. That is an experience I will never forget. 

Although I was blessed to spend time over the next year or so in the presence of this great woman, to sit with her for meals or out on the back veranda, I would never go so far as to say that I really knew her. Hearing stories about her firsthand from her children, friends and caregivers added to what I learned about her from her own writings. So I was excited last summer when I tracked down a copy of her autobiography, "Il Destino Passa per Varsavia." 

This book gives a fascinating look at Luciana's life of privilege and the impact she had long after the death of her famous blessed brother Pier Giorgio.  Some parts are devoted to the encounters she had with the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.  In at least one of those private meetings, Mussolini directly spoke to Luciana about Pier Giorgio.  I still find that incredible to comprehend.  Even a man who promoted fascism and inspired the likes of Adolf Hitler was impressed by the life of Blessed Frassati!

If you know anything about the Frassati story, you know that Ambassador Frassati resigned his position immediately following Mussolini's March on Rome. He could not be a part of any such government. Mussolini was not held in esteem by any of the family, especially Pier Giorgio.

"I glanced at Mussolini’s speech and all the blood boiled in my veins." - Pier Giorgio Frassati

Just a year after Pier Giorgio's death, Mr. Frassati was forced to sell his newspaper La Stampa for a pittance because of Mussolini's fascist regime.  There was clearly an unpleasant history between these two great political figures. That is why Luciana's interactions years later with Mussolini are all the more remarkable.

Many of us think of Luciana only as the sister and biographer of Blessed Pier Giorgio. But she was quite remarkable in her own way. I remember talking with one of her sons in Pollone following her second funeral Mass. He thought his mother was a great woman who should be remembered for so much more than her work to make Pier Giorgio known. He spoke about her heroic efforts to free many Polish Jews from sure extermination. Using her diplomatic passport and her ability to finesse her meetings with Mussolini, she saved many lives. At the time, she would have been about the age she is in the picture above. The confidence shows on her beautiful face.

In addition, she was an accomplished poet with many works still available online. She published in-depth historical works on places like Genoa and Turin.  She completed an extensive multi-volume biographical work of her famous father, Alfredo Frassati. And, yes, she did manage to get her brother's canonization cause back on track and write many books about him - for which we are so grateful.

At the start of Luciana's funeral Mass at the Cathedral in Turin, the pallbearers carried her coffin to the side altar where her brother lies in repose.  They paused there for one last poignant salute from a devoted sister to her beloved brother before bringing her to the foot of the main altar.  Later that day, I watched as her coffin was placed in the exact spot in the family crypt where Pier Giorgio had been until his beatification in 1990.  I make it a point to visit her there whenever I am in Pollone.

Luciana was a great woman who did great things and left the world a better place. In her humility, she never put herself in the same category as her brother Pier Giorgio who she would say, like Mary of Bethany, chose the better part.

"I started wearing my first long dresses, I became concerned about feminine things, I started worrying about my hat being one way and my dress another. He, on the other hand, was tirelessly directing his steps on the way of religion." - Luciana Frassati

Luciana's birthday is August 18th. It falls on a Sunday this year and so we don't even have to make a special trip to church to give her the only gift we can give her now - the gift of prayer.  It's the least we can do for this remarkable sister of a saint.  Grant unto her, O Lord, eternal rest and peaceful repose.

Verso l'alto! ///cmw