Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula Jr., O.P., urged the faithful to follow the footsteps of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati by living out the Beatitudes during the Mass for the saint’s feast at the Manila Cathedral on Saturday, July 4.

Advincula likened Frassati’s love of mountaineering to the image of the Lord’s ascent to proclaim the Beatitudes, which he described as the “charter of Christian life.” For Frassati, every summit was a pilgrimage.

“Yet Pier Giorgio never remained on the mountain. He went down to care for the sick, gave food to poor families, and accompanied the lonely. He found Christ in the beauty of creation, but even more in the suffering faces of the poor,” he added.

The archbishop said the only path to God is through humility.

“We ascend by allowing the Lord to purify our hearts, to make us poor in spirit, meek, and hungry for righteousness,” he said.

The Eucharistic celebration was part of the Frassati Catholic Youth Social Action Festival, organized by the Young Thomasian Professionals Lay Dominican Fraternity and the Philippine Frassati Society.

It was preceded by a conference on the youth’s role and involvement in social participation, led by speakers Rev. Fr. Christopher Jeffrey Aytona, O.P., of the Philippine Frassati Society, and Lay Preacher Dave Dela Cruz, O.P.

“[Frassati’s] life reminds all of us that Catholics are not called to be neutral spectators of society, detached from the lived realities of our neighbors,” Dela Cruz said, adding that Catholics are called to be people of prayer and action.

Aytona, in his talk, highlighted Frassati as an example of how modern youth can embody faith and motivate others by leading lives rooted in charity and compassion.

“In the ordinariness of our lives, that is an opportunity for [us] to be saints,” Aytona added, citing how Frassati became a saint through his ordinary acts of faith and service.

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati was canonized alongside St. Carlos Acutis on Sept. 7 last year at St. Peter’s Square.