“For we are the good odor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one indeed the odor of death unto death: but to the others the odor of life unto life.“
2 Corinthians 2: 15-16
“Walk with wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt: that you may know how you ought to answer every man.“
Colossians 4: 5-6
“(…) the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.“
Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on Nov 21, 1964, par. 31; 33; 38
“(…) Upon all the laity, therefore, rests the noble duty of working to extend the divine plan of salvation to all men of each epoch and in every land. Consequently, may every opportunity be given them so that, according to their abilities and the needs of the times, they may zealously participate in the saving work of the Church.“
“Each individual layman must stand before the world as a witness to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and a symbol of the living God. All the laity as a community and each one according to his ability must nourish the world with spiritual fruits. They must diffuse in the world that spirit which animates the poor, the meek, the peace makers – whom the Lord in the Gospel proclaimed as blessed. In a word, ‘Christians must be to the world what the soul is to the body.‘“
“The new evangelization that can make the twenty-first century a springtime of the gospel is a task for the entire People of God, but will depend in a decisive way on the lay faithful being fully aware of their baptismal vocation and their responsibility for bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to their culture and society.“
Saint John Paul II
Noble simplicity, and being relatable like Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
If Christians are to human society what the soul is to the body, as Lumen Gentium teaches, then the Catholic laity has this mission to fulfill: In a world that has grown more and more robotic, estranged, authoritarian and disciplined, puritanical, dull and boring, be the life of the party.
At every gathering and in every encounter let us be the salt, the pepper, the humor, the strong and nourishing bread, the new and yet for ages honed wine, the breath of fresh air, the benevolent joke to break the awkward silence, the bold and gentle kindness to warm the atmosphere; let us be the father, the mother, the brothers or sisters in arms or in weakness; in all wholesome humility and modesty, with wisdom and moderation.
Let us laugh where laughter is due; let us rejoice with the joyful, and weep with those who mourn. Let us be of noble simplicity; let us be straightforward, cordial and sincere, shunning pretentiousness, vulgarity, and populism.
Let us be the most interesting and peculiar guests and passers-by as well as the most familial, most generous, and most liberal hosts. Let us be the ones who display to the world how to fast and how to feast – and when and why. Let us raise sparkling cups of wine to life and blessings, and let us offer up thanks unto God for all the gifts from His bounty.
“Why doth one day excel another, and one light another, and one year another year, when all come of the sun? By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished, the sun being made, and keeping his commandment. And he ordered the seasons, and holidays of them, and in them they celebrated festivals at an hour. Some of them God made high and great days, and some of them he put in the number of ordinary days. And all men are from the ground, and out of the earth, from whence Adam was created.“
Ecclesiasticus (Jesus Sirach) 33: 7-10; 31: 36-37
“Wine drunken with moderation is the joy of the soul and the heart. Sober drinking is health to soul and body.“
As we struggle to uphold the age-old piety of the one true religion, trodding “the ancient paths, where the good way is“ (Jer 6: 16) amidst the modern pagans, let us never not even once be awkward, odd, and quirky, rather only the most natural, and human, and down-to-earth as it gets – because this is what our religion begets: real, touchable, and vulnerable flesh and blood redeemed and sanctified by the perfect and most pleasing sacrifice of the flesh and blood of the Messiah, the Son of God: Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary the Blessed Virgin and of Joseph the carpenter, crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, risen after a Sabbath rest in the tomb on the first day of the week.
Let us be those kind of people with whom our fellow men feel both safe and challenged, sensing that in us they have a brother or a sister in this “valley of tears“, and not their judge. Yet at the same time compelled to suspect that the order of our brotherhood is not of the kind of worldly tolerance for evil deeds or for just about everything, and is not of the kind of cold and bloodless indifference. But rather of the greatest and fiery charity for human souls that our God, who willst all men to be saved, has commanded us and has graced us with.
Let us be relatable like Christ, our Master and Teacher, Himself was relatable as He was drawing both Pharisees and Torah scholars as well as tax collectors, sinners, and loose women unto Himself to release them from their bondages and to change their hearts from stone to flesh. Let us be relatable for all kinds of people, then: high class, low class, people of all temperaments, all walks of life, and of various favorite vices and underdeveloped virtues. Relatable like Saint Paul the Apostle was relatable, let us speak to the philosopher in philosopher‘s terms, to the poet poetically, and to the rest of mankind with deeds and conduct louder than with words.
“For whereas I was free as to all, I made myself the servant of all, that I might gain the more. And I became to the Jews, a Jew, that I might gain the Jews: To them that are under the law, as if I were under the law, (whereas myself was not under the law,) that I might gain them that were under the law. To them that were without the law, as if I were without the law, (whereas I was not without the law of God, but was in the law of Christ,) that I might gain them that were without the law.
1 Corinthians 9: 19-22
To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. I became all things to all men, that I might save all.“
Or if only all Catholic laypeople were relatable like Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was relatable: a charismatic gentleman of good manners – “healthy, strong, and tanned with eyes as clear as pure water“, as the journalist Emilio Zanzi observed; “so physically strong, he looked exactly the opposite of what one would think an ascetic should look like“ according to Constantino Guardia Riva (quotations taken from: Christina M. Wohar: Finding Frassati and Following His Path to Holiness, ETWN Publishing Inc. 2021 ebook distributed by Sophia Institute Press, ch. 31). And yet he also was a “man of sorrows“ who patiently walked the laborious way of the cross.
“I want to follow the straight and narrow path, but with every step I trip and fall; that is why I ask you to pray for me whenever you can, until, God willing, I reach the end of the difficult but straight and narrow path.“
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, quotations taken from: Maria di Lorenzo, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. An Ordinary Christian, Pauline Books and Media 2004, p. 61; 120
“We are living through difficult days because the persecution against the Church is raging more than ever, but this should not frighten you, brave and good young people. Always remember that the Church is a divine institution and it cannot come to an end.“
He knew how to drink and smoke with moderation and how to enjoy good company; how to climb mountains, how to ski, and how to dance; how to unite a band of friends – “few but good like macaroni“ (ibid., ch. 35) – under the banner of faith and good humor, and how to push them to walk with him “verso l‘alto“ – “to the heights“; he knew how to throw a fist fight with the Fascists if necessary, and how to honor the altars of Our Lady with fresh flowers. Be alive then, truly alive.
Upholding the ancient ways of true piety in a modern world
Blessed Pier Giorgio had the “gift of piety“ though he lived in the same modern and secularized world as we do. What is “piety“?
“Piety. Honor and reverence given to someone in any way responsible for our existence or well-being. Thus God as our Creator and constant Provider, parents, near relatives, country, tribe, or people.“
Dictionary of Catholic Culture (catholicculture.org)
“Gift of piety. A special gift of the Holy Spirit; it perfects the virtue of religion, which is the practice of justice toward God. It produces an instinctive filial affection for God and devotion toward those who are specially consecrated to God. As an infused gift of God, it is ready loyalty to God and the things of God, arising not so much from studied effort or acquired habit as from a supernatural communication conferred by the Holy Spirit.
This gift enables a person to see in God not only one’s sovereign Master but a loving Father, according to the teaching of St. Paul: ‘Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’‘ (Romans 8: 14-15). It engenders in the soul a filial respect for God, a generous love toward him, and an affectionate obedience that wants to do what he commands because it loves the one who commands.“
What made Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati make the Sign of the Cross every time He passed by a Catholic church hosting the Most Holy Eucharist, the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the tabernacle? His piety. What made him kneel down on the hard wooden floor of a mountain hut to pray the Most Holy Rosary even after a long and exhausting hike? His piety. What made him pull out his booklet of The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary while he was riding on a tram train through the streets of Turin to offer up the Hours? His piety. What made him volunteer for the night watches of Eucharistic adoration? His piety. What made him, the son of a diplomat and well-known newspaper owner, sneak off into the quarters, streets, shacks, and apartments of the poor people of Turin to spend time with them and to do good to them by acts of corporal and spiritual mercy? His piety. What made him understand and perform the noble and simple essence of the Catholic faith day in, day out while the Fascists took to power in his native Italy and the world grew more and more vile? Over and over again the answer is: the gift and the virtue of piety.
Piety is one of those unifying virtues that can make both the heart and the daily life of Catholic laypeople one instead of many. Though the modern world may not be one any more, the fabric of the uni-verse ripped apart in a secular age, yet the life of the Catholic laypeople nevertheless shall still be of one seamless tunic – clothed with Jesus Christ.
Modernity may be the breeding ground for a way of life which usually cannot bring a man’s head, heart, and hands in accord and harmony any more, but among the children of God this shall not be. They are completely – body, mind, heart and soul – purchased, redeemed, sanctified by the Holy Blood of Christ, and belong to nothing and no one else but Him alone, even while they fulfill their temporal duties.
We find beautiful descriptions of what piety remembers, protects, and acts out in the biblical wisdom book Jesus Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, a book translated from Hebrew into Greek shortly before the days of the oppressive king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, or in the books of the Maccabees, who revolted and fought against the tyrannical reign of this king.
“With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests. With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his ministers. Honour God with all thy soul, and give honour to the priests, and purify thyself with thy arms. Give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the firstfruits and of purifications: and for thy negligences purify thyself with a few. Offer to the Lord the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the firstfruits of the holy things: And stretch out thy hand to the poor, that thy expiation and thy blessing may be perfected. A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead. Be not wanting in comforting them that weep, and walk with them that mourn. Be not slow to visit the sick: for by these things thou shalt be confirmed in love. In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.“
Ecclesiasticus (Jesus Sirach) 7: 32-40
When king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, in the 2nd century before the first advent of Christ, forbid the practice of the Jewish religion, of keeping the Sabbath days and of circumcising the children of the covenant, some – by the virtue of piety – refused to forsake the ways of their forefathers:
“And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus the Illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome: and he reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let us go, and make a covenant with the heathens that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us. And the word seemed good in their eyes. And some of the people determined to do this, and went to the king: and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathens. And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the nations: And they made themselves prepuces, and departed from the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathens, and were sold to do evil. (…)
1 Maccabees 1: 11-52; 2: 1-22
And after Antiochus had ravaged Egypt in the hundred and forty-third year, he returned and went up against Israel. And he went up to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he proudly entered into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces. And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels: and he took the hidden treasures which he found: and when he had taken all away he departed into his own country. And he made a great slaughter of men, and spoke very proudly. (…)
And the king sent letters by the hands of messengers to Jerusalem, and to all the cities of Juda: that they should follow the law of the nations of the earth, And should forbid holocausts and sacrifices, and atonements to be made in the temple of God. And should prohibit the sabbath, and the festival days, to be celebrated. And he commanded the holy places to be profaned, and the holy people of Israel. And he commanded altars to be built, and temples, and idols, and swine’s flesh to be immolated, and unclean beasts.
And that they should leave their children uncircumcised, and let their souls be defiled with all uncleannesses, and abominations, to the end that they should forget the law, and should change all the justifications of God. And that whosoever would not do according to the word of king Antiochus should be put to death.“
“In those days arose Mathathias the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem, and he abode in the mountain of Modin. And he had five sons: John who was surnamed Gaddis: And Simon, who was surnamed Thasi: And Judas, who was called Machabeus: And Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron: and Jonathan, who was surnamed Apphus. (…)
And Mathathias and his sons rent their garments, and they covered themselves with haircloth, and made great lamentation. And they that were sent from king Antiochus came thither, to compel them that were fled into the city of Modin, to sacrifice, and to burn incense, and to depart from the law of God.
And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm. (…)
Then Mathathias answered, and said with a loud voice: Although all nations obey king Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments: I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers. God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law, and the justices of God: We will not hearken to the words of king Antiochus, neither will we sacrifice, and transgress the commandments of our law, to go another way.“
“But Machabeus ever trusted with all hope that God would help them. And he exhorted his people not to fear the coming of the nations, but to remember the help they had before received from heaven, and now to hope for victory from the Almighty. And speaking to them out of the law, and the prophets, and withal putting them in mind of the battles they had fought before, he made them more cheerful: Then after he had encouraged them, he shewed withal the falsehood of the Gentiles, and their breach of oaths. So he armed every one of them, not with defence of shield and spear, but with very good speeches and exhortations, and told them a dream worthy to be believed, whereby he rejoiced them all.
2 Maccabees 35: 7-18
Now the vision was in this manner: Onias who had been high priest, a good and virtuous man, modest in his looks, gentle in his manners, and graceful in his speech, and who from a child was exercised in virtues, holding up his hands, prayed for all the people of the Jews: After this there appeared also another man, admirable for age, and glory, and environed with great beauty and majesty: Then Onias answering, said: This is a lover of his brethren, and of the people of Israel: this is he that prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city, Jeremias the prophet of God. Whereupon Jeremias stretched forth his right hand, and gave to Judas a sword of gold, saying: Take this holy sword a gift from God, wherewith thou shalt overthrow the adversaries of my people Israel.
Thus being exhorted with the words of Judas, which were very good, and proper to stir up the courage, and strengthen the hearts of the young men, they resolved to fight, and to set upon them manfully: that valour might decide the matter, because the holy city and the temple were in danger. For their concern was less for their wives, and children, and for their brethren, and kinsfolks: but their greatest and principal fear was for the holiness of the temple.“
So what may we learn from Sacred Scripture about the virtue of piety? It means “to obey the law of our fathers“, “although all nations obey the king Antiochus“, and “not to fear the coming of the nations“ but “to hope for victory from the Almighty“. It makes a man “a lover of his brethren, and of the people of Israel“, who “prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city“, and it compels him to fear the most “for the holiness of the temple“ and to fight the good fight of faith with valor.
Just like Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813-1853) before him, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was a man as “ancient as his religion“, when it comes to practicing this traditional piety, faithfully keeping the commandments and traditions of holy religion as handed down from the forefathers, and “as modern as his times“ (a phrase coined by the Dominican priest Lacordaire about the virtuous life of his friend Blessed Ozanam), when it comes to applying this piety to the circumstances of the current day and age, fleshing it out for real right here and now.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us! Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, pray for us!
“It is necessary for man to understand that he is powerless to stay the torrent of public evils and to heal the cruel diseases that endanger the life of society, and that the most efficacious means for bringing about their real cure, is a sincere return to the religious practices of our forefathers, and above all an abundant Participation in the treasures of the merits of the Passion of Jesus Christ.“
Very Reverend J.B. Etienne, spiritual director of Sister Apolline who received in an apparition of Jesus Christ in the year 1846 the Red Scapular from Him, approved by Pope Pius IX
Post scriptum: A tentative sketch of the public alien
“And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.“
Romans 12: 2
“Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, neither of the princes of this world that come to nought; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is hidden, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew; for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.“
1 Corinthians 2: 6-8
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul, having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works, which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation.“
1 Peter 2: 11-12; 1: 17-19
“(…) converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers: but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled (…)“
In order to contribute to the cure or at least the alleviation of the various shades of the current cultural malaise – to name just a few: a tendency towards the political cult, tribalist war games, the ever-spinning machine of fetishization, the technocratic paradigm, and privatisms of all shapes and sizes, at times even privatisms dressed in religious garb – the true Catholic Christian is called to live the life of a man whom we could characterize as a public alien – the most radical, yet also the most peaceable figure thinkable.
This public alien calls the circular immanence of modern politics and society without God and without teleology into question by proclaiming Christ the King. By building bridges and making inroads that may either lead lost wanderers to His throne or may bring His throne to the spheres that have made themselves dwell outside of His gentle reign. All of this is nothing new; it is pretty ancient stuff.
Catholic Christians are aliens because they belong to none of the privatist social groups, cliques, clubs, and bubbles of like-mindedness of this world. There is no nest to be found nowhere for the followers of Christ just like there was no nest for Him. They are ambassadors, sent by Christ, weak but strong in grace, walking their path and living among the pagans for as long as God permits it, for the sake of the almost impossible task of their own sanctification, and for the sake of other‘s edification and conversion.
And they are public men because they are marked with the seal of Christ whose gospel is public and universal. Like Christ Himself, Catholic Christians belong not only to no one but simultaneously they belong to all, belong to everyone. Catholic means universal. A Catholic cannot be a tribalist or a privatist. He cannot be privatus. His body and his life are a gospel in miniature. They are a book written by Christ Himself with His sacred ink, and this book is publicus and communis.
The body of a Catholic Christian is sanctified over and over again throughout his life, from Baptism unto Extreme Unction, by the reception of Christ‘s Holy Sacraments that redeem this body from original and actual sin, liberate it from bondage and death, and transform it into a visible sign of Christ spreading His aroma wherever this body, a vital limb of Christ‘s Body, goes and wherever this body breathes, moves, and acts. Therefore, the Catholic Christian belongs to every man and cannot withhold himself from anyone, just like Christ on the cross gave Himself sacrificially for all men.
The one basic mission of Catholic Christians is to continually announce Christ and the salvation that is found in Him, and in Him alone, with their bodies and their lives, and to continually lay down their lives as Christ laid down His. To die with Him is to live with Him.
There is a reason why the Song of Zechariah is prayed every morning in the Liturgy of the Hours. The mission of Saint John the Baptist – to point to Christ, the Lamb of God, and to prepare His coming – is the mission of the Catholic Christian every day.
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and wrought the redemption of His people: And hath raised up for us: a horn of salvation, in the house of David His servant. As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets who were from the beginning: That He would save us from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us: And show forth His mercy to our fathers: and remember His holy covenant. The oath which He swore to Abraham, our father, that He would grant unto us: That, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and justice before Him, all the days of our life. And thou, O child, shalt be called a prophet of the Most High, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways: To give knowledge of salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins: Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, wherein, rising from on high He hath visited us: To enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.“
Song of Zechariah, Laudes prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours
This mission is a noble mission because it is from Christ who sits at the right hand of the eternal Father of lights; it is a fleshly mission because our life is in the Incarnate Son of God who enters into us with his Body and His Blood under the species of bread and wine with each and every Holy Communion; and it is a wild and uncontrollable mission because we are pilgrims, wayfarers, strangers in this world, led by the Holy Spirit who blows and breathes wherever He wills. We are no one‘s crowd and regiment – we are His holy nation purchased with His most precious blood.
“And not finding them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying: They that set the city in an uproar, are come hither also; whom Jason hath received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.“
Acts 17: 6-7