Feast day: October 12
Carlo Acutis was born in London to Italian parents and grew up in Milan, Italy. Although his parents were not particularly religious, Carlo had a great devotion to the Eucharist from a young age. At the local Jesuit high school he attended, he supported friends whose parents were divorcing by inviting them to his home. He defended those who were disabled when bullies mocked them. He did volunteer work with the homeless and destitute. He also liked films and video games. Considered a “computer geek,” his passion was creating a website cataloging and describing every Eucharistic miracle that has happened in the world. (He had started this website at age 11 and completed it one year before his death. This website is still available online by searching “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World.”)
At the age of 15, He developed leukemia, and, within a week of his diagnosis, he was hospitalized and died from that disease. He was buried at the former cathedral church in Assisi, the Church of Saint Mary Major. During his illness, he offered his suffering to God for the Pope (Benedict XVI at the time) and the Church.
In 2013, he was named a “Servant of God,” which means that an investigation into his life, with the possibility of being named a saint, could go forward. In 2019, a mother in Brazil had prayed through the intercession of Carlo for the healing of her son from a pancreatic disorder that restricted the boy to a liquid diet. At a prayer service in their local church, the young boy asked that he not throw up so much. When they came home, he told his mother that he felt healed and asked to eat solid food. This miracle was pronounced authentic and Carlo Acutis was beatified on October 10, 2020.
(Image: Copyright © Associazione di Carlo Acutis. Used by permission.)