Writing in his parish newsletter, Mgr Basil O’Sullivan at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Auchterarder, anticipates Sunday’s Canonisation of Carlo Acutis:
“A Saint of, and for, our time; and he was British born. Carlo Acutis was born in London of Italian parents, May 1991, and baptised in the church in Our Lady of Dolours, Chelsea, a few weeks later. His parents were successful businesspeople, and as a baby he was taken to Milan, where he was brought up. His mother was a baptised catholic and got married in the church but otherwise did not practise her faith. For the most part, the young Carlo was brought up by nannies, Irish and Polish. It may have been from them, rather than from his parents, that he got his first love for the Lord.”
“As he grew up Carlo showed a wonderful love for Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist. Once he made his first Holy Communion, aged 7, he would go to Mass every morning and would often visit the church for the Rosary and prayers. One of his sayings was that there are queues for football games and concerts, but no queues to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He would ask his mother so many religious questions that finally she enrolled in a theological course to be able to answer him–and from being a nominal Catholic, she became a fervent one.”
“At school, Carlo was very helpful to children who were being bullied or in some other need. He made friends with the homeless and the poor on his way to church or school, knowing them by name. He spent his own pocket money on a sleeping-bag for a homeless man. Though an ordinary scholar, he was remarkably talented on IT and the internet, detailing the various miracles connected with the Blessed Eucharist and apparitions of the Blessed Virgin down the centuries. He was only 14 when he tackled this project and had died before he could view them. On these websites he told the story of each miracle down the centuries, giving details of each miracle in a variety of many different languages. In this way, even as a schoolboy, he was able to spread the Good News of the Gospel. He also made a website for his parish at the request of his parish priest.”
“Showing a great devotion to the saints, especially to Our Lady, St Francis and St Michael, he would visit as many shrines as he could.”
“Carlo, aged 15, became seriously ill with leukaemia. Comforting his mother with the assurance that heaven was a place of happiness and joy, he died in October 2006. Originally buried locally, later his body was transferred to Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi. He was beatified in the Basilica of St Francis, Assisi, October 2020, by Cardinal Vallini, on behalf of Pope Francis, who intended to canonise him in the Spring of 2025, but illness prevented him from doing so. Pope Leo will canonise him this Sunday, September 7 in St. Peter’s, Rome. He will be the first millennial saint to be canonised.”
“He is called “God’s Influencer” and is regarded as a patron of young people and of those who make websites. His final words before death were addressed to his mother, “Don’t be afraid, since Jesus came on earth, death has become the passage towards life and we don’t need to flee it.””
“God is very good to continue to give us wonderful saints and inspire us to be saints as well, young and old alike.”
“”St Carlo Acutis, pray for us.”