“I’m happy to die because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn’t have pleased God.”
Born in 1991, he was only 15 years old when he died of leukemia in a hospital in Monza, Italy, in 2006, offering all his sufferings for the Church and for the Pope.
He was beatified on October 10th, 2020.
He was a natural jokester who enjoyed making his classmates and teachers laugh. He loved playing soccer, video games and had a sweet tooth. He couldn’t say no to Nutella or ice cream. Putting on weight made him understand the need for self-control as it was one of the many struggles he had to overcome.
He noted to master the art of self-control, to master the virtue of temperance, starting by the simple things. His saying was, ‘What’s the use of winning 1,000 battles if you can’t beat your own passions?’ Carlo’s motto reflects the life of a normal teenager who strived to be the best version of himself, and living the ordinary in an extraordinary way.
He used his first savings to buy a sleeping bag for a homeless man he often saw on the way to Mass. His funeral was packed with many of the city’s poor residents who he also had helped. This demonstrated that the generosity he had extended to the homeless man on his way to Mass, had been offered to many other people as well.
“Sadness is looking at oneself, happiness is looking at God. Conversion is nothing but a movement of the eyes.”
Making life pleasant for those around him through little acts was a constant in his life. He did not like the cleaning staff picking up after him, even if they were paid for it. He therefore would set the alarm clock a few minutes earlier so he could tidy up his room and make the bed. Raejsh, a Hindu who cleaned at Carlo’s house, was impressed that someone “as handsome, young and rich” as Carlos would live a simple life. “He captivated me with his deep faith, charity and purity,” he remarked. Through Carlo’s example, Raejsh decided to be baptized in the Catholic Church.
As he grew in illness, Father Sandro Villa commented, “In a small room, at the end of the corridor, I found myself in front of a boy. His pale but serene face surprised me — unthinkable in a seriously ill person, especially an adolescent.”
Acutis’ heart stopped beating on October 12th, 2006 — a date which is now celebrated as a local feast in the Diocese of Assisi and Archdiocese of Milan. His parents had desired to donate his organs, but they were too compromised by leukemia to be donated.
Today, Carlo’s heart is considered to be a relic and is contained in a reliquary in Assisi which is inscribed with his words: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
The website he had created, listing the Eucharistic Miracles of the World: http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html
He is the patron saint of computer programmers, gamers, and teenagers.
His feast day is October 12.
For God’ Glory.
