Today is the Feast of Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), the Italian teenager who loved computers, soccer and, most of all, the Holy Eucharist.
“At the time of Blessed Carlo’s beatification two years ago, Pope Francis referred to the young Italian as a model of holiness in a digital age and, indeed, he is,” says Craig Pohl, Director of the Office of New Evangelization for the Diocese of Lansing, October 12.
“Blessed Carlo is a very contemporary reminder that holiness is to be pursued in the ordinary things of everyday life, that holiness brings us happiness, that holiness is rooted in a love and reverence for the Holy Eucharist.”
Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 though his family moved to Milan in Italy shortly after. From an early age, young Carlo was noted for his piety and also for his prodigious computer skills. He notably combined both passions when he created an online database of Eucharistic miracles from around the globe.
In 2006, Carlo Acutis was diagnosed with leukemia. He offered his sufferings for both Pope Benedict XVI and for the Universal Church. Following his death in the same year, people around the globe began praying to young Carlo for heavenly favors.
In February 2020, the Vatican authorized a miracle attributed to Carlo which related to the healing of a Brazilian boy from a rare congenital disease of the pancreas. It was that miracle which has paved the way for his beatification in Assisi later that year.
Blessed Carlo’s motto was “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan." Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us!