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10/13/2004
Hi!
Maria,
Just
yesterday I finished reading your book, Blessed Pier Giorgio
Frassati: An Ordinary Christian.
Thanking
you so much for not giving into your hesitation in writing the book. (In
this book was a lot of new information for me.)
Here in
the US there aren't many books about Blessed Pier so when I spotted this
one I ordered it immediately (two more are on the way for friends) and it
has been my companion for the last week and a half.
I am
only sad to have it end. I cried on several occasions while reading the
book because of his holiness. (He was real.) I can't seem to get enough of
this saint so I thank you for giving me more through this awesome book.
God
Bless and if you write another one please let me know.
Ada
Connecticut
USA
08/17/2004
Dear
Miss Di Lorenzo,
I am a
lawyer in Washington, DC, USA. I was in Chicago yesterday, browsing through
the Pauline bookstore downtown, looking for something to read on my return
trip to Washington.
I saw a
display of your book on Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and bought
one. I was vaguely aware of him and thought I might like to learn more
about him.
I
started reading your book on the subway out to the airport in Chicago,
continued reading during my flight, and finished on the subway in
Washington as I headed home.
It is a
wonderful book that describes a wonderful life.
Although
I am quite a bit older than Bl. Frassati when he died (I'm 42), I very much identified
with him. I worked in the performing arts for many years (and thereby moved
in some of Washington's inner circles), love sports, and even enjoy cigars
like him.
But
only my closes friends know I say the rosary at least daily and go to Mass
just as frequently.
While I
do not presume to have one one-millionth of the charity and holiness he
did, I do identify with him and found his story--your book--an inspiration
and builder of faith.
Thank
you.
Edward
Washington,
DC
USA
09/27/2005
Hi
I first
met Pier Giorgio on July 4th of this year when
watching EWTN (A Catholic TV station).
Curious
about him, I went to the internet and shortly
after read a book about his life written by his sister. Reading book
reviews on the net, I came across your book as it was highly recommended.
I have
read it more than once. You have done a wonderful job, and how fortunate
you are to have traveled where he traveled, etc. Wouldn't this make a wonderful Hollywood
movie?
Thanks,
Virginia
02/28/2006
Dear Maria,
My name is Joseph and I got a hold
of the book that you wrote about Blessed Pier Giorgio
Frassati and I thought that it was very nicely
done. Great job!!
I would like to thank you for
writing this book because I picked him for my comfirmation
name. He has brought me closser to Jesus, and I
thank him for that.
As I was reading this book, I
noticed that he had the same intrests as me, a 14
year old boy. He liked playing jokes on other people, he loved the
mountains, and most important, he loved the poor and gave all he had to
them.
Everyday I feel like a different
person, I start praying to Jesus, I have a greater respect for the poor,
and I start to work harder on my schoolwork. Before you start saying to
yourself, 'Who is this freak?'
I would like to tell you a little
bit about myself. I am fourteen years old, Homeschooled,
love skiing, loves extreme sports, and play soccer almost everyday. I also
live near Detroit in Northville. I am very active
at my Catholic church as a server, and am very involved in helping the poor
in downtown Detroit.
I want to thank you once again for
writing this book.
Peace,
Joey
12/14/2006
Hi Maria,
Nice piece you wrote on Blessed
Giorgio Frassati, def moving.
Cheers,
Joshua
08/24/2004
Dear
Maria,
I just
wanted thank you for an excellent book on the life of Pier Giorgio Frassati.
It was
well written, well documented but most importantly inspiring. I plan to
share it with others. As a member of the Pauline family I was especially
happy to see it published by the Daughters of St. Paul here in the U.S.
God
Bless and greetings from the other side of the Atlantic.
Greg
04/20/2004
Dear
Maria,
thank
you for your book, may God bless your writing skills.
I am
eclectic when it comes to finishing books, I love to read but read a
little, skim the book and move on to the next. I do not remember the last
time I finished an entire book. I read your book in three sittings and
finished it!
It
doesn't sound like a big accomplishment but consider I am the father of
nine children (one 6-year old is named is Maria!), a physician and deacon
of the Church, my minutes are precious!
It is a
tribute to your writing skills, my wife always kids about how many books I
start and leave for another.
Your
book has left me loving this young man and refreshed me with vigor and a renewed desire for selflessness.
Once
again, thank you and may God always bless you and your penmanship.
In
Christ,
Angel
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BLESSED
PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI
Athletic, handsome,
and always good for a laugh, Pier Giorgio Frassati was the charismatic leader of a band of
rowdy friends.
He smoked, pulled
pranks, relished extreme sports, fiercely debated politics into the
night…
…and secretly gave
away his wealth to help the poor: a mother unexpectedly widowed, a
homeless invalid, a boy without warm clothes…
…and plunged eagerly into intense
experiences of Eucharistic prayer.
An inspiring biography
that captures Frassati's spirit
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: An
Ordinary Christian
explores the
adventuresome personality and forthright love of a
man who succeeded in wresting holiness from everyday life.
KEY FEATURES
- Includes new photographs of Frassati, his family and friends
- Features a foreword by Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., National Director and Chief Executive
Officer of World Youth Day 2002
- Provides appendices of excerpts from Frassati's letters; testimonies of his worldwide impact
- and a listing of Pier Giorgio Frassati websites
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Maria Di Lorenzo
BLESSED PIER GIORGIO
FRASSATI
An Ordinary Christian
[Translation by Robert Ventresca]
Pauline Books & Media, Boston 2004
$ 15,95
Order on line! 
Visitors in U.S.A. 
Visitors in Italy 
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Maria
Di Lorenzo wrote:
When my editor asked me to
write this biography, I wondered with some perplexity if there was much
point in writing a new book about Pier Giorgio Frassati.
This young man from Turin,
much beloved by people the world over, has had a great deal written about
him in recent years.
His fascinating and
ever-contemporary image is constantly turning up in catecheses,
at conferences, in sermons, in studies, and in journals – some 2,000
articles about Frassati have appeared in print
in recent years. So why write more?
What I failed to realize, in my
deliciously human logic, was the imponderable meaning of “chance”, the
sum total of seeming accidents Divine Providence enjoys scattering along
life’s path with a logic all God’s own.
And along my own path, both
personal and professional, Pier Giorgio had been
waiting for me
from the start, so to speak; perhaps he has been waiting for some time.
Just as one discovers a
hidden figure in a game of connect-the-dots, so day after day I went in search
of Pier Giorgio, tracing the footsteps of his
life and character in order to sketch a spiritual biography that would tell of his joy,
and somehow to explain the “unexplainable”: his clear and extraordinary
friendship with God.
I would be grateful to readers who wish to share
their impressions with me in writing
madilorenzo @ yahoo.it
convinced that we benefit and
nurture our unique faith in Christ, in the light of the communion of
saints, through dialogue and an open, sincere sharing.
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THE AUTHOR
Maria Di Lorenzo (1964) is a writer and a journalist. She lives in Rome.
After the Classic High School, she studied Letters and Philosophy
at Urbino University, taking a degree in
Italian Literature, with a thesis about Giacomo
Leopardi (July 5, 1989).
Therefore, she attended at Urbino’s
Superior Institute of Journalism and after a stage with Enrico Mascilli Migliorini and Sergio Lepri (ANSA - Italian Associated Press Agency), she
began to work in the newspaper “The Time” (1990-1992); next she has
worked also for the Italian Broadcasting Corporation – RAI (1991) and for
the Vatican Radio (1993-1995).
After the Conference of Pechino (1995),
she participated in the collective volume Pope writes, women answer (Edizioni
Dehoniane-Bologna, 1996), by Giulia Paola Di Nicola and Attilio Danese. She made with C.I.O.F.S. team an
important study on the feminine problems in the Europe of the
“after-Wall” across the cinema, in two collective tests: Woman and cinema in the Europe 2000 (1994), and Women and cinema between imaginary and
everyday life (1998), at present in use by some Italian
universities.
Journalist of the magazine “Mother of God” (1998-2001), she also
writes, as expert in spirituality, for other magazines, between whose “Milizia Mariana”, “Jesus”, “Our time”, “Perspective
Person”. Now she is the director of
In Purissimo Azzurro, web-magazine of culture
and performing arts.
Maria
Di Lorenzo is also an
author of poetry, drama and stories. She published the books Voices from the moss (Edizioni Tracce, 1992), Sicilian Notebook (Firenze, PoesiArte,
1994). Her poetries obtained many awards and are published and reviewed on magazines and
anthologies, in Italy and foreign countries.
Winner
in 1992, with the story To south of
the heart, of the Prize of fiction “Giacomo
Debenedetti” for the best writer under 30;
Award Selection “Mothers and Daughters” (“Christian Family”/Mondadori Publisher) for the story The evening
is done evening (Milan, 1995). For the Vatican Radio she wrote the
dramas: The room of
sirocco (1993); Old like the moon
(1995).
Author of many web sites, she realized a
web site dedicated to Elio Fiore, one of the biggest Italian poets of the
20th century. Maria Di Lorenzo
also writes fictions for cinema and tv.
She published the volumes:
With the cross on the heart – Edith Stein (Edizioni dell’Immacolata, Bologna 2000-2006)
Rosario Livatino. Martyr of justice (Paoline, Milano 2000)
On Mary’s steps. Charismatic figures of the Christian
history (Città
Nuova –Roma 2002)
Mother Teresa. The splendour of charity (Paoline, Milano 2003; 2° ed. 2004)
A shortcut for the sky. 17 life and faith ways with
Mary of Nazareth(Gribaudi, Milano 2004)
Evening is done evening (Edizioni Tracce,
Pescara 2004).
Teresina è uscita dal gruppo (Paoline, Milano 2008)
Nasconditi dentro il mio cuore (Edizioni dell’Immacolata,
Bologna 2009).
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