His mother, as a matter of fact did not leave an occasion or circumstance to escape to speak of her heavenly Mother; the beauty of flowers, the splendor of the stars, the blue of the heavens, the green of the valley, all easily presented here the opportunity to get her son, even from his most tender years to love Mary.

On Saturdays, when Cono was still small, in homage to the Holy Virgin, he would abstain from his motherly milk, and from eight years old on, he would take very sparingly only one meal. While at Diano, he held especially dear the churches that were titled Mary, from which he preferred that of “The Holy Blessed Virgin Mary.” This church was officiated by the Celestine Fathers and was not very distant from his home. He would often visit the church spontaneously alone or in the company of his mother. He would do so in order to raise the songs of his heart and the yearning of his spirit to this heavenly Mother. Religious and dedicated to Saint Mary of Cadossa, he was wrapped in love and tenderness for the Virgin Saint and would adorn and perfume her image with flowers that he would pick from the green garden of the Monastery.

The blessed virgin received much love and exchanged it with a special fondness. She smiled at him through the tresses of love. She stuck by him in his times of struggle, in time of uncertainty and through storms of the spirit. She lifted him in the hour of temptation and in trying times. He was tenderly in love with Mary and on Saturday, the day she was consecrated, he was invited to enjoy her in contemplation of her beautiful face.

This Virgin who he loved with affection and single devotion received his soul and introduced it to the glory and eternal joy of Paradise.