Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents and grew up in Milan. From a very early age, people felt that Carlo was a particularly special boy. Carlo showed a great devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Our Lady, even though his parents didn’t practice their faith.
Growing up, Carlo was lively, popular and cheerful. He wasn’t always the most prepared for class and he often distracted others during boring lessons, but when this was brought to his attention by his teachers, he stopped completely.
A bright lad, Carlo finished middle school with distinction. He had a particular gift for kindness. He stood up for those who were picked on by others because they were different. He wanted his friends to live good virtuous lives, and he challenged the other students in his class to value the gift of modesty and he stood up for the gift of life. Above all, he wanted his friends to know and love God like he did. Carlo was his own man – he wasn’t bothered by what other people thought about him.
Young Carlo didn’t just talk to his schoolmates only about prayer. He was a normal teenager, who loved joking and laughing, hanging out with his friends, making videos with them; he loved quizzes, flying kites, watching action films, playing soccer and being on his Playstation too. He loved Pokemon and Super Mario. He loved his dogs, cats and even his goldfish. His friends knew Carlo was always there for them, especially if they were going through a hard time in their families. Carlo also volunteered as a catechist for younger children preparing for their confirmation.
Carlo was really talented with computers. He taught himself to design websites and could understand computers as well as college graduates. He helped to create a website for his school and his parish, but his big project brought together two of his passions: technology and the Eucharist. Carlo wanted to catalogue all the Eucharistic miracles in the world, and so he began researching and collecting information from all over the world, and travelling to various shrines with his parents when he could to take photos. He wanted people to know that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. The website he started is still on the internet today!
When Carlo was just 15, he got really sick with a very aggressive form of Leukaemia, and he knew he didn’t have long to live. He offered up all his pain and suffering “for the Pope and the Church, so as not to undergo Purgatory and enter heaven directly.”
Even though he was really sick in hospital, he still thought more of other people, and nurses noticed that he didn’t want to wake his mother when he was in pain: “She is very tired as well, and she will only worry even more about me.”
Carlo died on 12 October 2006, just one week after being diagnosed, and was buried in Assisi where he loved to visit. A huge crowd of people came to his funeral. What many people didn’t know about Carlo was that as well as his online work in spreading the faith, he was also giving up a lot of time and his own money to help the poor and homeless, bringing food and sleeping bags to people throughout Milan.
Carlo, our milennial saint, was beatified on 10 October 2020, and showed us that holiness and even sainthood are possible for teenagers and young people today, in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life. Saints can wear Nike and jeans, play computer games and surf the net too!
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