The Pastoral Council of Bianzone and the brothers has published a book in his memory.

Don Virginio is described not as a distant or solemn figure, but as a “hyper-active” priest – down-to-earth, unpretentious and deeply human – capable of smiling and getting angry for the good of his community.

During his 23 years of service in Bianzone, he was a tireless pillar of support. He devoted himself tirelessly to the restoration of local religious monuments, in particular the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Piano and the church of San Siro, seeing these projects not merely as “bricks and mortar”, but as a way of revitalising faith and the community.

His outlook on life was rooted in his experience as a military chaplain during the Second World War; his memoirs reveal a deep spiritual concern for suffering soldiers and a dedication to honouring the memory of the fallen, which he regarded as an act of faith and a lesson in brotherhood to be passed on to young people.

Don Virginio maintained an unbreakable bond with the Dorothean Sisters of Cemmo, whom he regarded as comrades-in-arms, and held his fellow priests and the people of Bianzone in the highest esteem, constantly referring to them as “brothers”, even when the relationship was at times complex or marred by misunderstandings.

In his will, drawn up on 30 July 1990, he wrote:

Believing, as a person of faith, that the hour of my death is drawing very near – given my advanced age and the many ailments that are now afflicting me – it is time to set out my last wishes. First and foremost, I accept God’s will; I accept it by asking Our Lady for her maternal and merciful help to die in the grace of her Son and our brother, and in communion with the Catholic Church. At least when I die, I would like to be able to to give to my faithful Bianzone sets a good example, to give it to those who treated me and accepted me as a priest, and also to those who saw in me more the man than the priest – the man who cared more for his own interests than for those of souls and the parish. I express myself with my poor, uncertain, trembling handwriting, but within it lies my soul and the firm, conscious conviction to detach myself from everything that might harm the life of the spirit. It has not been easy for me to detach myself from my possessions, because I thought I might need them.

I’d like my friends in Bianzone to organise my funeral, so as not to be a burden on my family, who have always given so much to my uncle.

I sacrifice my wish to be buried alongside my mother and my family so that I may be laid to rest, as a seed of hope, in a mass grave in the Bianzone cemetery, in this land that I have loved so dearly. I would have liked to have a rest at Madonna del Piano, but that’s not going to happen!…

• I’m asking for a lot spirit of service to the new parish priest and the nuns.
• I am calling for the nursery school run by the nuns to be saved at all costs begging Mother Myriam Pedrotti not to leave Bianzone.
• I ask that the choir, the parish catechism group and the liturgy group be kept going; I also ask that the (wonderful) group of women who look after the flowers and cleaning continue their work under the new parish priest.
• I ask that you stop frightening the priest with insults, swear words and threats of all kinds; the priest forgives, but let the priest also be forgiven if he is not all that great.
• I ask that you not be afraid of the priest and that you not seek to keep him on a tight leash by preventing him from entering institutions – at least those that are also his; Don Virginio believed he had been everyone’s priest and believed he had a right to citizenship; he cannot conceive of a parish within a parish without the priest. Forgive me, but I have also suffered because of this; moreover, my last will and testament is intended to be the voice of a father to his sons and daughters, to his brothers and sisters, for the common good. I respect political pluralism and the participation of political parties in governing our fellow citizens in a true spirit of service, but I do not condone the behaviour of those Catholics who are unable to forgive and who hide in secrecy to carry out acts of revenge.
• I ask Diego Castelanelli, a valued colleague and sincere friend, to deliver this will to the Vicar Forane upon my death, to keep a copy of it, and to work with my successor and the parish council to ensure that my final wishes are interpreted fairly, unless they are immediately found to be unreasonable.

Thank you for the spiritual encouragement and help I received in Mondadizza, Mazzo, Grosio, Tovo, Lovero in particular, Vervio, Rogorbello, and finally in Bianzone, where I was taken in by Don Gino Menghi. My thanks and gratitude go to my fellow brothers in the Tirano area, to whom I feel so closely connected.

Thank you to everyone who helped me in Sondalo.

Bianzone: save the live nativity scene, an expression of faith and unity. I would like to be able to die with the comfort and grace of the sacraments.

Forgive me, forgive me, brothers and sisters.

I bless you all, and enough of this fuss about my humble self. 

Yours, Virginio Zubiani.

The full text is as follows: IN MEMORY OF DON VIRGINIO ZUBIANI

L'articolo TRENTESIMO ANNIVERSARIO DALLA MORTE DI DON VIRGINIO ZUBIANI proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

This event, in contrast to the nearby Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tirano, has never been officially recognised, however, a parchment memorial has been found that mentions the “The Apparition. The The manuscript in question was found in 1911 in the Fornonzini-Confortola house, now the site of the nursery school, by priest Federico Cattaneo, coadjutor with the title of spiritual bursar of the Madonna del Piano, and returned to the parish archives. The text reads:

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam et Beatissimae Virginis. Mariae. Ad perpetuam rei memoriam

“In the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-five, on the sixth day of April, Battista de Flagelli, or Fragiti di Bianzone, a simple and God-fearing man, as the Rt Rev. Provost was leaving his house to go and celebrate Mass, met me at the door of my house in the Rectory, all thoughtful and greeting me, said he had something important to discuss with me and I said: and what do you have to tell me?  He said, full of redness, that he did not dare to reveal it, because, being a sinful man, he did not know whether he would believe it, but in any case that he could not keep silent about it, because, after knowing it, he could not have rest or repose unless he revealed it. I pleaded with him, thinking he wanted to talk to me about something else, and he added:
The truth is that on the 26th day of the last month of March, which was the first day after the Annunciation of the Ever-Virgin Mary, after having commended myself to God and to his Most Holy Mother Mary at the beginning of the night, at about two o'clock in the morning, I was awake in bed and saw the poor, black house, in which I usually sleep, shining with rays and splendours greater than those of the Sun. Mother Mary at the beginning of the night, at about two o'clock, when I woke up and was in bed, I saw the poor black house in which I usually sleep shining with rays and splendours greater than those of the sun, indeed it seemed that the whole house was made of the finest gold, and I felt such pleasure in my soul It seemed as if I were in Paradise and among so many delights and splendours I heard a voice, and it seemed to me to be the Virgin Mary, if I saw her well, who said to me, go, announce to the Provost and to the people of Bianzone that in my honour they should have an altar raised and my temple situated here on this plain reduced to a more honourable state, Tell them that if they do so, I promise them my blessing and protection, otherwise they will beware of the chastisements that you are enduring and at that time, since I was infirm with a ruptured intestine, I felt healed as I am now healthy and I truly believe that it was the Blessed Virgin although I did not discern her among so many splendours, and I said they would not believe me, and I was warned that I should begin to lead stones and rocks and contribute something of my poverty, so I promised to give her two spoonfuls of wine, and at once I led a few cartloads of stones, and so at that moment that great splendour departed: I delayed till now because I did not dare to say it, since I am an abject person, poor and a great sinner, but finding no rest I was forced to say it, and I offer to endure any torment to confirm this truth. I then told him that he should seek out the Bianzone officials, and he replied that I wanted to tell them on his behalf and that he offered to appear and affirm the whole thing; I then went to celebrate Holy Mass and afterwards I spoke about it with my Lord Canons, that is to say the R Sig. Sig.P. Antonio Zanina, with Sig. P. Carlo Adda and with R. Sig. P. Giov. Nodari, who with other people went separately to meet the Baptist to inform him of the truth and to all replied the same, and after a few days I requested that the Council of this Mag.After a few days I requested that the Council of this Magistrate's College be assembled, since I wanted to speak to him about this success, and in the said Council, having explained everything as above, I told him that I could not canonically approve such an apparition, because this is to be done by the Lord Superiors, but in any case, since it is a pious and holy thing to restore the Church to a more honourable state, it would be good not to be against it, and that in doing this to the honour of the Virgin Mary, they could only expect great good.
So that Magical Council determined the adherir to these aids as follows...”.”

After the Apparition took place in the humble, blackened house of Battista De Flagelli, located close to Piazza Vanoni, a grandiose project to enlarge the Piano church was initiated, which also led to the construction of the present monumental façade that stands out from the view of those arriving from Sondrio.

The event is recounted in the following volumes:

• ‘From One Hail Mary to the Other’ by Vanda Cerveri
• Bianzone - The sanctuary of Madonna del Piano by Dante Sosio
• Bianzone caskets of art and culture by Emanuela Cerveri
• Bianzone among vineyards, churches, palaces and ancient quarters by Gianluigi Garbellini

It is also annually reminded on the Mary The Immaculate One 

L'articolo 26 MARZO 1675: LA MADONNA APPARVE A GIAN BATTISTA DE’ FLAGELLI proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

L'articolo QUARANTESIMO ANNIVERSARIO DELLA RIAPERTURA AL CULTO DELLA MADONNA DEL PIANO proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.