Pier Giorgio has an attentive and sensitive soul, naturally inclined to learn and deepen what he feels is truly important for his life and that enriches his humanity. On the one hand, this leads him to appreciate every form of art: painting and sculpture (he collects reproductions of his most beloved works in large notebooks), symphonic and operatic music (listened to in halls and theaters), theater, literature. On the other, it leads him to seek theological knowledge, to always better understand the plan and history of God among men.
Reading is a fundamental dimension of Pier Giorgio's human and Christian formation.
He reads passionately Dante and Shakespeare, Greek tragedies, Virgil. Then Foscolo, Manzoni, Marradi, D'Annunzio. Then Heine, Goethe. A broad and varied panorama, which includes contemporary novels. It is not an intellectualistic reading; Pier Giorgio feels rooted in humanity, and does not distinguish thought from action: he knows how to make a vital synthesis. He feels close to those who preceded him in human experience, even in the distance of centuries, as well as to every person he meets in his daily life.
It is the young man who reads with equal passion, further increased by participation in the same faith, the lives of the saints, the Confessions of St. Augustine, the writings of St. Catherine of Siena and Friar Girolamo Savonarola, the two great Dominicans who will open him to the choice of entering the Third Order at twenty-one. Who reads the papal encyclicals. Who undertakes the reading of the Sum- ma theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. But above all, it approaches the word of God directly, without intermediaries, making it the true principal source of one's spirituality.
The favorite biblical texts are those of St. Paul: his letters, read and reread (even on the street, or on the tram), meditated, pondered and prayed, become the privileged companion in the approach to God.
Many will speak, after his death, of Pier Giorgio as a wise young man. Or, better, of
a wise young man, who treasured what God wanted to tell him and reveal to him in his Word, in the sacraments, in the brothers he placed beside him.
I am writing to you while I have open before me that beautiful book by St. Thomas Aquinas and when I read those sublime concepts, I always think of you who were the first to instill in me the desire to know the great truths contained in this work written to exalt and glorify Divine Providence.
In these days when in the tranquility of this house we gather to pray, I will also pray for you, and you pray a lot for me, so that, if unfortunately in earthly life we must stay apart for the demands of our careers, at least on the day when the Lord wants, we will find ourselves together in our true Homeland to sing the praises of God.
Letter to Antonio Villani – March 26, 1923
January 4th “Holy Year”
When you return you will find Robespierre changed; and in fact I prepared myself for the Holy Year in Advent by reading St. Augustine, a reading that I have not yet finished, but from which I have brought back an immense joy, a profound joy, which unfortunately had not reached my soul until now. I also devote myself to literary studies: I am reading “Testimonianze” by Papini and then I will move on to philosophical studies, if I find a good translation of the work of St. Thomas Aquinas. You see, the projects for the Holy Year are grandiose. So I think I have found the best way to alternate the boring study of Mechanical Technology with delightful readings... I am happy to close my student career in such a beautiful year.
Letter to Franz Massetti – January 4, 1925