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| Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) |
You can hardly get a more modern saint than Carlo Acutis whose mother said, "Carlo led a normal life: He went to school, he played sports, he played video games, although usually just one hour a week because he understood that one could be enslaved by video games."
He also loved soccer, comics, and movies. His true nature was reflected when he defended kids from bullies, comforted friends whose parents were divorcing, created a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles, and volunteered among the homeless.
I love this saint whose hobbies and modern life remind me so much of my nieces and nephews, not to mention those that my grandchild and grand-nieces and nephew and godchildren will doubtless love. I hope they also have Carlo's love of God and of his fellow man.
Here's a brief summary of his life from Franciscan Media's saint of the day:
Born in London and raised in Milan, Carlo’s wealthy parents were not particularly religious. Upon receiving his first communion at age seven, Carlo became a frequent communicant, making a point of praying before the tabernacle before or after every Mass. In addition to Francis of Assisi, Carlo took several of the younger saints as his models, including Bernadette Soubirous, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Dominic Savio.
At school Carlo tried to comfort friends whose parents were undergoing divorce, as well as stepping in to defend disabled students from bullies. After school hours he volunteered his time with the city's homeless and destitute. Considered a computer geek by some, Carlo spent four years creating a website dedicated to cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle around the world. He also enjoyed films, comics, soccer, and playing popular video games.
Diagnosed with leukemia, Carlo offered his sufferings to God for the intentions of the sitting pope—Benedict XVI—and the entire Church. His longtime desire to visit as many sites of Eucharistic miracles as possible was cut short by his illness. Carlo died in 2006 and was beatified in 2020.
As he had wished, Carlo was buried in Assisi at St. Mary Major’s “Chapel of the Stripping”, where Francis had returned his clothes to his father and began a more radical following of the Gospel.
Among the thousands present for Carlo’s beatification at Assisi’s Basilica of St. Francis were many of his childhood friends. Presiding at the beatification service, Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised Carlo as an example of how young people can use technology to spread the Gospel “to reach as many people as possible and help them know the beauty of friendship with the Lord.” His liturgical feast is celebrated on October 12.
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