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Newsletters & Saintly Steps
January 2025Welcome to the New Year, Frassati Family! As we begin this Year of our Lord, 2025, how do we prepare our hearts to receive Him, to know Him, to love and serve Him? Let us look no further than Jesus’ mother! Let us recall Blessed Pier Giorgio’s own filial devotion to our Mother Mary. He was know for his love of our Lord’s mother, and pledged himself to her when he was yet a lad of seventeen:
Oh, my sovereign and my Mother, I offer everything to you
today, and always, my eyes, my mouth, my heart, my whole being.
Because I belong to you, O Mother, keep watch over me, defend
me as if I were your own property.
At twenty-one years of age Frassati committed to, and was received into, the Third Order of Dominicans. As the story goes, St. Dominic had a deep devotion to The Virgin Mary, who taught him how to pray the rosary. This fit Frassati perfectly, as he would craft rosaries out of seeds to give as gifts to family and friends. Will you craft something for someone close to you, or serve them with your presence, ear, and undivided attention?
In our fast-paced world, can each of us find time to pray a rosary everyday? Frassati prayed the rosary every morning as he walked to mass, while he rode on streetcars, and at any point he deemed he would have enough time. Perhaps we can carve out enough time to pray at least one decade. Dads, will you make it a priority to lead your family—if not in all five—in at least one decade of the rosary every day this month?
Verso l’alto!
Saint Thomas Aquinas
January 28thIt is widely agreed that Thomas was born in the Kingdom of Sicily, also known as the Lazio region of Italy, in the castle at Roccasecca, in 1225. He was the youngest of eight children, and so was expected to become a priest. At the young age of five his father, Landulph, the Count of Aquino, sent him to live and learn under the Benedictines of Monte Cassino. Thomas’ exceptional intellect was recognized even then! Several circumstances led him to return to Naples and resume his education there, which is where he met John of St. Julian. This was the priest who inspired young Thomas to join the newly formed Dominicans.
His parents did not like this idea. His mother, Theodora, Countess of Teano, wanted her youngest son to move to Paris, instead. Two of his brothers apprehended Thomas while he was stopped over in Rome and returned him to their parents’ home, the castle in Monte San Giovanni Campano. These brothers were up to no good, and attempted to bring sin upon their younger brother by hiring an impure woman to seduce him. However, Thomas’ fervent prayer was heard: two angels appeared and strengthened him against temptation, and he drove the woman away with a red-hot iron. This earned him the title, The Angelic Doctor!
Thomas continued forward through life, studying at Cologne under St. Albert the Great. It was during his time here that he was nicknamed the “Dumb Ox” because of how quiet he kept, and yet how large he was, though his contributions to faith and reason are substantial. Thomas received his doctorate degree in Paris and, among the prodigious works he produced throughout his life, is arguably most well known for The Five Ways. These logical explanations for the existence of God are beautiful, and still offer lucid insight into the reality of our Father.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Pray for Us!
February 2025Blessed Pier Giorgio, Pray for Us!We look forward to growing according to God’s plan, and the flourishing of all lives that pass through these doors.Mountaineers keep moving forward!
On February 6, we hosted our largest Shadow Day event yet with fourteen discerning lads, representing eleven families, who were visiting to get to know a bit about Frassati Academy. The crowd convened at 11:30 for introductions and brief opening remarks before attending mass together in the recently, beautifully renovated St. Ann’s Church. Following mass we broke bread together—or, rather, tortilla chips and tacos—while engaging in large and small conversations among the adults and lads alike. The visitors had the opportunity to sit in on Dr. Sasso’s Greek History class, then concluded with a few other questions.
Sts. Paul Miki & Companions
Headmaster Nold listens along with the lads and their guests as several take turns reading from Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy.
February 6thAbout sixty years after Saint Francis Xavier had spread the good news to much of Japan, Saint Paul Miki was born at Tounucumada, Japan. He was the son of a respected military leader, and was educated at a Jesuit college at Anziquiama. Paul joined the Jesuits in 1580, and became known for his glib evangelizing. He and many other pious Catholics fervently circulated the good news throughout Japan during Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s persecution by his group, the Taiko.Saint Paul Miki and twenty-five others were captured and spurred on through a spectacular trek—meant to impress the population—to the place of execution near Nagasaki, where they were crucified. Despite being prodded on for a month, Saint Paul joined a Franciscan monk in preaching the Word to the people who came to see the march. Among the other religious martyrs that day were a carpenter, a cook, a reformed bonze (Buddhist monk), and lay people including a soldier, physician, and altar boys.