Luigi Brutti

Luigi Brutti was born in Montefiascone, in the province and diocese of Viterbo, on November 23, 1984, the second son of Vittorio Brutti and his wife Enza. He was a lively child, sometimes hyperactive, so much so that none of his closest relatives could hold him for more than half an hour. Even at school he appeared irrepressible, distracted, constantly in the mood for jokes. His grades barely reached sufficiency. He quarrelled with his mother, father and with Martina, his older sister, almost daily. Luigi attended the parish and followed the meetings of Catholic Action for Children, but without too much conviction. He preferred to be with friends, and he behaved superficially with girls, going from one girlfriend to another. In addition, he had started smoking when he was eleven.
At about sixteen, attending the parish summer camp something began to change in him. In 2001 he wrote, "I want to find peace and happiness because I feel that I miss it -  I need 'light',". The next day he wrote three commitments: "To take care of my family... aiming at the hearts of my friends... commit myself to school".
In 2002 he participated in another summer camp on the theme of love. Under the guidance of some Jesuit fathers, Luigi confronted himself with the Word of God and recognized what was stirring his heart: the desire for absolute love. He decided to walk that path immediately: "I find no reason to hesitate, I want to love God, I want to be happy, I want to do good, I want the best!", he noted in those days, in which he had discovered that God was not a master to be satisfied, but a Father to be loved and that he asks for nothing in return.
In November 2002, he began to write a spiritual diary, in which he wrote down prayers, reflections, invocations addressed to God. He became an educator of young children. He stopped smoking and concentrated on studying, so much so that his mother, during an interview with the professors, found it hard to believe that they were talking about her son. Relations with his family also smoothed out. The Word of God nourished his personal prayer, while with friends in the youth group he prayed the Rosary and the Liturgy of the Hours. He attended Mass "exclusively to be with God, and the Mass is the most powerful way to be there," he wrote. He prepared herself with great care for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
As the years passed, a new restlessness became more urgent in Luigi: what to do with his life. He wrote in 2003: "Lord, help me not to make my choices according to which is easier, indeed help me to be wary of easy choices and to privilege the difficult choices that lead to life." Even when he recognized his own limitations, he asked in prayer: "Help me to admit myself and admit to you without problems my falls, but always with the will, the desire, the courage to get up again with your help." After graduating high school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Primary Education Sciences and at the same time in the specialization school for support teachers. In those years he asked the Lord to help him grow in love: "Let me love others as much as possible, certain that you will take care of loving me. Let me make you known to whom I meet, who may be your reflection and your servant".
In 2008 he began teaching. The children, colleagues, school collaborators loved him, recognizing in him rare human qualities. With his help, many children with special needs were able to integrate into common activities, playtime, and relationships with peers. Luigi also spent his time outside of school, working with children with disabilities and migrants.
In 2006, he got engaged to Roberta, a girl who shared the same values and dreams as him. On a visit to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, they entrusted Our Lady with their plan of love: "Help us to be happy, to love one another in body, soul and spirit, to know each other in our humanity and divinity, to see in the face, in the eyes of the other, the face of God." Their wedding was set for September 11, 2011.
On Monday, June 6, Luigi went to school as usual, with a severe headache. Two days later, Luigi told his parents he still had a headache. Five minutes after that the situation got worse and his parents called the emergency services, he had gone to bed and lost consciousness. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital but never regained consciousness. On the evening of August 19, 2011, in the presence of his father, mother, sister and fiancée, Luigi died; he had not yet turned twenty-seven.
Two years after his death, at the bottom of a drawer in his bedroom, his parents found the notebooks that made up his diary. His uncle Mario Brutti edited a first collection of these writings together with some testimonies, "On the way to God – Thoughts and prayers of Luigi Brutti". A room in the oratory of the Holy Family church was named after him. In March 2022, Fr. Luigi Fabbri, vicar general of the diocese of Viterbo, published "I need light – The human and spiritual journey of Luigi Brutti", to which the short film of the same name was linked. The official website, www.luigibrutti.com, was also launched, with its social channels. The first steps have been taken to verify the possibility of initiating his cause of beatification and canonization.