Flowers for Our Lady

"Flowers were his fervent and most obvious homage to the Blessed Virgin.  Wherever there was a celebration in her honor, Pier Giorgio would show up with a bunch of flowers.  He did this from the time when he was a student at the Sociale, in other words, from when he was a young boy." - Luciana Frassati

One of the simple joys I experienced whenever I stayed at the Frassati home in Pollone was to take time to smell the roses.  They grow in abundance there in so many colors along the path down into the garden.  In the summer, a fresh-cut bouquet can always be found in Pier Giorgio's bedroom.  If he were alive, he would probably take them right from the vase and bring them to his beloved Madonna of Oropa!

Quite a few people shared testimonies of seeing Pier Giorgio walking with flowers in hand that he had gathered in the family garden.  A group of his close friends ran into him one day on the way to the Shrine "holding two magnificent bunches of flowers in his hands so tightly that he was practically crushing them." When they asked him who the flowers were for, he said, “That’s easy to figure out. One is for Our Lady, and the other is for my poor uncle who is buried in the cemetery up there.”

A villager from Pollone wrote that she saw him pass by her house nearly every Sunday with a big bunch of flowers in one hand and singing a hymn. "He would say hello and then continue on his way to the Black Madonna."

The priests at the Shrine were particularly impressed by his visits in the winter snow.

We were amazed, and would say, “Why are you here in this weather, Pier Giorgio?”  He would answer, “I’ve brought some flowers for Our Lady.”

Nearly every image we have of Pier Giorgio brings to mind a strong, handsome, athletic figure with a hint of a confident swagger.  It's beautiful to picture that same guy so full of love for Our Lady humbly cutting and carrying flowers to her. But the flowers were not the only or even the best gift he brought her.  The rosary was an important part of his life and he favored her with a daily bouquet of prayers, as well.

Along those lines, something special happened this week at the daily Mass chapel of EWTN.  In his homily on Mother's Day, Father Joseph Mary encouraged families at home to have a "Mary Garden."  He described the flowers such a garden might contain and shared his desire to have a Mary garden around the statue of Our Lady of Fatima there in the chapel.  What would make it most beautiful, he said, is if each flower represented a rosary that had been prayed by the sender. 

Almost immediately, local people brought some roses to the chapel.  By Tuesday, the local florist's phone was ringing off the hook.  Today, to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the chapel was full of roses!


Father Joseph Mary is happy.  I'm guessing Blessed Frassati is smiling, too.  More importantly, Our Lady must be very pleased.  Keep those rosaries coming - especially in this Marian month. 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Verso l'alto!  ///cmw