Transcript: We studied like crazy in high school. An incredible team spirit.

I wondered: "Who is this guy?"

He said to me: "We are preparing an introductory course for high school: would you like to come?"

And I said: "Ah! Interesting, but can we get to know each other?"

I told him: "Look, I'm going on vacation with my parents in Tuscany."

We were going to dance at a disco there and at the hotel I met a girl from Rome, Antonella, and I fell in love immediately.

Then he started telling me: "But why don't you come to study? We have a cultural documentation center here."

I said: "Look: I study very well at home, maybe I'll come someday."

He said: "Please, arrive at 3 o'clock sharp."

So, "alright," I said to myself, "at 3 o'clock sharp." I arrived, knocked on the door, and he opened it. He was obviously waiting for me and took me directly to the study room. There were three tables full of boys studying in silence and there were two empty seats. One was his, and the other he had saved for me.

In the meantime, I had learned many things from him. He started explaining this to me: "You’re starting to understand things better. Opus Dei is made up of people who also dedicate their entire lives, they are the numeraries who do not marry because they are dedicated to others’ formation. Why don't you consider whether you could be a numerary?"

"Me? But how? Think about it! I have Antonella!"

He told me to talk about it with Jesus. I went there, looked at the Tabernacle, and said: "Jesus, what do you want from me? Because if you want this, so do I."

I didn't feel anything strange, no response, but I felt so happy that I said to myself: "It's worth taking a chance on this path!"

That was my first contact with our Father (Saint Josemaria). I was finishing eating a plate of spaghetti when the phone call came from the secretary of the residence, Aldo Capucci who asked me: "Lello, how long would it take you to get here?"

"But of course, if our Father is there, I’ll be there in 3 or 4 minutes!"

And he said, “He’s here.”

Bam! Really? I left. My mother grabbed me and said, "What are you doing? You haven't finished eating!" I replied: "No, look, I've had enough to eat. I have to do something very important!" Bam! And I got there. He appeared all of a sudden.

He did that several times in other cities too, calmly. It was nothing official. That’s something else that impressed me about our Father: he was an affable, normal person. You really felt his immediate affection, and it gave you a desire, from the very beginning and lasting a long time, to conquer the world!

I was sitting on the floor, here, and he was sitting on a chair like these ones here.

(St. Josemaria’s voice:) "God bless you! God bless you!"

And he talked to us. No, no. (Looking at a photo.) Who gave you this? Incredible! Of course, I recognize them! I saw Jesus present among us at that moment.

And he said: "If we want there to be more of us, we have to really want it. And we don’t really want it if we don’t put the means in place.” How?

(St. Josemaria’s voice:) "The first thing to do is to be closer to the Lord, to have more interior life ourselves. We are, you and me, children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, we are children of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ brothers and sisters!"