Saint Paul's Hymn of Charity

“Saint Paul was Pier Giorgio's main moral nourishment, the principal source of his religious thinking. Pier Giorgio copied by hand the Hymn to Charity in order always to have it at hand. He read the Epistles of Saint Paul on the tram or in the street, and, to anyone who wanted to know what was in the book, he said, ‘words of eternal life’.” -Luciana Frassati, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati's Sister
"Saint Paul's Hymn of Charity" is the popular name for the passage on love found in the 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 of the New Testament. Also referred to as the "Hymn to Love" or the "Hymn to Agape", it is not a hymn in the traditional sense but a descriptive passage that emphasizes love as the greatest of all spiritual gifts. It famously describes the characteristics of selfless, enduring love, contrasting it with other spiritual gifts like prophecy or speaking in tongues, which it states are useless without charity.

Love is supreme: Without love, even the most spectacular abilities are meaningless.
Characteristics of love: The passage details the attributes of this type of love, including being patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not arrogant, not rude, and not easily angered.
Love endures: It highlights love's ability to bear, believe, hope, and endure all things.
Love is eternal: Unlike other gifts, which will cease, love is presented as something that will remain forever.
The greatest gift: The passage concludes by stating that faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.
The passage is a poetic and profound description of the supreme value of love over all other spiritual gifts and has been a source of inspiration for Christians throughout history. Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati notably carried a handwritten copy of this hymn with him at all times as a guide for his life of charity.

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