Against the background of the collapse of everything, in the hatred and violence of war, in 1943 Chiara made the “dazzling discovery” of the One who remains: God, who she experienced as Love.
“A fact. I was teaching. A visiting priest […] asked to speak to me. He asked me to offer an hour of my day for his intentions. I answered: why not the whole day? Impressed by this youthful generosity […] he said, «remember that God loves you immensely». It was like a bolt of lightning. “God loves me immensely”. “God loves me immensely”. I said it, I repeated it to my companions: God loves you immensely. God loves us immensely. From that moment I saw God present everywhere with his love: in my days, in my nights, in my impulses, in my resolutions, in sad, harsh and difficult situations. He was always there, in every place, explaining things to me. What did he explain to me? That everything is love: what I am and what happens to me: what we are and what concerns us […]. And he sustains me and opens my eyes to everything and everyone, as well as to the fruits of his love. The conversion had taken place. “The newness” had flashed before my mind: I knew who God is. God is Love”[1].