US students meet Enzo… in the Lambrusco vineyard

“This time, the encounter between CLU North America and Enzo Piccinini’s life did not take place via a Zoom call or through the famous testimony that can be found on YouTube. Nor did it take place through a New York Encounter exhibition. This time, we went to greet him in person.”

The encounter moved Tommy and the other 40 or so university students from the United States who had the joy of arriving in Italy, in Modena, on the trail of Enzo Piccinini, whose story they had learned about at last year’s New York Encounter.

And here, the fascination with Enzo as a person became truly concrete, flesh, bread, and even wine. Their words confirm this.

“As the huge bus turned onto the dirt road,” Tommy continues, “a man and his wife saw forty young Americans getting off the bus, bewildered by the beauty of the fields and trees.”

They were hosted by Alberto and Barbara Paltrinieri’s winery.

“Paltro and his wife, Barbara, were busy preparing their wonderful vineyard for a town party they were hosting that same evening. Nevertheless, when we arrived, they interrupted their preparations and devoted all their attention and care to us. After a beautiful Sunday Mass in the shade of the large trees that cover part of the vineyard, Paltro explained his work to us and taught us how to taste his renowned Lambrusco wine. Many CLU students were immediately intrigued by Paltro’s dedication and passion for his work. He repeatedly emphasized the importance of interpreting unexpected (and sometimes painful) situations in life not as a curse, but as a resource, an opportunity. His passion for each of us translated into a huge lunch, where pasta, fried dumplings, and, of course, Paltrinieri wine, fed us abundantly.

“However,” Tommy continues, “what really nourished our souls were the words of Paltro, his wife Barbara, and a couple of friends who were there. When asked about their friendship with Enzo Piccinini, they all responded with the same spark, as if he were still their best friend. No matter how rude, impulsive, and oppressive Enzo was, Barbara was moved by the fact that nothing in their friendship was taken for granted. Everything was done to find happiness in Christ. For Enzo, Paltro (then a young boy) was not just a son who took care of his father’s vineyard: he had the task of producing the best wine in the world. It was a total friendship that spared nothing and forgot nothing.

Barbara spoke about her relationship with Enzo after his death in 1999. She had had several experiences with close relatives and friends suffering from serious illnesses, and had always thought that the miracle of healing she would ask Enzo for would never happen. Enzo helped her understand that other miracles were happening, which did not correspond perfectly to those she had in mind.

This also struck Karolina: “The thing about Enzo that stuck with me the most was the way he challenged Barbara’s expectations about miracles. Instead of feeling like everything she prayed for would be handed to her on a silver platter, she was forced to look for the good in the reality she was facing, and in the end she was more satisfied with that miracle than with the one she had asked for.”

It was so clear in Barbara’s testimony that Enzo’s presence in her life is not just a memory, but a person and a friend who brings her closer to her faith every time she turns to him. One thing that both Barbara and Paltro said, and which was perhaps the most surprising thing about all this, is how clearly Enzo’s way of interceding for them is still very similar to his difficult and stubborn way, as it had been in life.

“At this point,” Tommy continues, “our CLU group was silent and surprised. How can a woman be open to all this, despite the painful burden she carries every day and her prayers that never seem to be answered? Certainly, Enzo’s life did not go as he had planned, but his complete trust in the Father is what allowed him to attract thousands of people around the world. Even forty American students, thanks to the hospitality and unconditional friendship of Paltro and Barbara, came to know Enzo as their dearest friend.”

“In recent months,” explains Anton, “I have developed a keen interest in Enzo, his life, his intensity, and the way he puts his heart into everything he does. And I met someone like Paltro, who is so passionate about what he does and really puts his heart into it thanks to Enzo. Enzo has become a much more authentic person, not someone you read or hear about only in presentations, but a friend, someone you can still learn from and meet, even 26 years after his death. I think it was truly a miracle to have been able to meet Enzo’s friends in a winery in Sorbara.”

Karolina insists on the heightened reality. “Before our trip to Paltro’s Vineyard, Enzo Piccinini seemed like a really important person to me, deeply loved by the people I knew, but he had never been truly real to me. Listening to Paltro and Barbara’s testimonies really brought him back to life. He was a person just like me, with his weaknesses, but who still managed to do immense good.”

Cata was also impressed: “Meeting Enzo through Paltro, Barbara, and their friends amazed me because he is clearly still an active and present friend in their lives, even so many years after his death. It is clear, hearing them talk about him in their lives and the almost daily miracles he performed in their lives, that this is also what drives his friends to do. Meeting him in their testimonies inspired me, and all of us, students from around the world who had never met this man, to do the same.”

“Although Enzo died many years before I was born, I had the exciting and inspiring experience of meeting him and continuing to meet him through the impact he had on the lives of others through the stories told of a unique and mysterious man,” John testifies. “Enzo’s life,” he continues, “was a provocation for me: the life of a saint is not perfection, but fully embracing all of life. Getting to know him, I realized that he is a model for me of what a real man is and who I want to become: someone who does not hide or run away from reality, who lives every day ‘to the fullest,’ giving everything he can in everything he does, knowing that God will provide and will be found there.”

Karolina clarifies another important point: “Visiting his grave helped reinforce how extraordinary Enzo was. His grave is impressive and unique, and it really makes you think about what kind of man could have had a grave like this.”

“There are people who spent years with Enzo Piccinini, others who only had a conversation with him,” says photographer Veronica. “Quantity doesn’t matter; everyone who met Enzo has an unmistakable sparkle in their eyes.”

Lisa Bellocchi