“Villa delle Querce was said to be a clinic where people went to die. I knew nothing about this since I was only a 15-year-old boy happily biking around the neighbourhood. Places such as these were kept a secret. But I was curious to find out what went on in there. From the outside it seemed to me as if there were old people walking on trees. In actual fact it was the 7th floor of a psychiatric hospital which was hidden by the trees but which had a balcony around which the patients would often walk. I entered the place out of curiosity, but I was immediately assaulted by five elderly people who started shouting at me. I saw a young man in a wheelchair and with the excuse of visiting him, they let me pass. Among this motley group of patients there was also a highly respected man called Gianni with whom I struck up a friendship. Gianni immediately spoke to me of his illness which he had contracted at the age of 24. Up until then he’d had a career in the navy as well as in the cinema. He had to give up the beautiful girls and the lavish lifestyle; now there was only solitude and the fear of a slow death. He asked me to bring him some poison so as to commit suicide. I returned to see him a week later and at that point he could no longer speak. He had thrown himself down from the 7th floor with his wheelchair, but after a flight of stairs it had stopped. Consequently he was confined to bed. My only answer to his desperation was to tell him to believe that God loved him and I saw this grace had touched his heart when his eyes suddenly started to shine like the sea reflecting the sun. He started to laugh heartily and our conversation continued only through the movement of his eyebrows which I was able to interpret. I asked the questions or made suggestions and he answered with his eyebrows or with a fantastic smile. I started to take to him all sorts of visitors, like for instance a rebellious girl whom he transformed into a perfect nurse through his good humour. Another girl, through contact with him, overcame her own self-hatred because of her body image. Her life changed completely. Other visitors included atheists, religious people and missionaries. He connected with each one of them and this prolonged his life. There was one episode when the medical staff had almost given up on him after an operation only to see him revive and give one of his beautiful smiles. I have a great photo of Gianni with Pope Paul VI who had asked him for prayers. Now that they are together in heaven, they are a source of strength for us, and help us to smile even in pain.” (Fr Marco S. – Italy)