Recently, we celebrated the canonization of St Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint. Some say he is ‘the saint for young adults.’ Others say he is ‘the saint of the internet’. But if we look at his life and his faith we will soon learn that he is an inspiration for us all.
St Carlo Acutis Life in Faith
Carlo was born in May 1991 to wealthy Italian parents, Andrea and Antonia Acutis. They were not practising Catholics, but had Carlos baptised at Our Lady of Dolours, London. They eventually moved back to Milan with Carlo when he was very young. Carlo was fascinated by the Catholic faith from an early age. He often wanted to visit churches and asked many questions about the faith to his mother, Antonia who was unsure on how to answer him. She explained in an EWTN interview preceding her son’s canonization that she had to study theology and the catechism to answer his many questions and this brought her to Christ.
Antonia Acutis was not the only person that St Carlo brought to Christ. During his lifetime he led many to the faith, including his Hindu caretaker, Rajesh Mohur. Acutis often wanted to visit churches to worship Jesus during Adoration and mass. As his caretaker, Mohur would take St Carlo to church at his request. Mohur watched this young boy’s visible devotion to Christ in the blessed sacrament and was inspired by his faith. Mohur converted to Catholicism and so did his mother and his best friend.
St Carlo wanted to share the faith as widely as possible and as a child of the millennium he knew the best platform to share the faith was the emerging internet. He learned coding and created a website in 2004 on Eucharistic Miracles and the lives of the saints who are associated with the blessed sacrament. https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html
In October 2006 St Carlo was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, and within a few weeks he fell into a coma and died.
His last words to his mother were: Mom, don’t be afraid. Since Jesus became a man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don’t need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life.
St Carlo Acutis: An Extraordinary/Ordinary Life
Carlo Acutis was capitulated to sainthood due to his pious nature and example for young people. As a millennial, he loved common activities enjoyed by his generation such as gaming on a gaming console. However, as a devout child of God he dedicated most of his time to prayer and worship and sharing the gospel message using modern media tools such as the internet.
Every generation requires holy people to inspire them to reach for heaven. There are thousands of recognised saints in heaven spanning from the time of Christ. Holy people who have said, ‘yes’ to God time and time again in their lives, and demonstrated the great power of God’s sanctifying grace. As time moves ever forward and the lives of these saints drift into the mists of time, it can be easy to distance ourselves from these iconic spiritual heroes. St Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed his life in a concentration camp to save a man who had a wife and children. What are the chances that we in Western civilisation will face a similar choice in similar circumstances?
So who can we turn to for inspiration on how to live a holy life in the 21st century? St Carlo is a great example to follow. He was self-disciplined. He only played video games for one hour a week. This is a remarkable feat for a teenager living in a time where there is constant exposure to highly addictive media, such as computer games. He chose to pray regularly before the blessed sacrament, instead. He prayed the rosary each day, as well. He brought many people to Christ through his talent as a website designer. These simple, but powerful practices are things we can all do.
Take The Little Way
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus is another young saint called to heaven at a young age. Like St. Carlo, she did not live a long life dedicated to extraordinary works of mercy such as Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Her life was cut short aged 24 from tuberculosis. However, she helped lay a path to salvation for poor meek souls like ourselves. She called it ‘The Little Way’. She was inspired by the scripture verse, Matthew 18:3.
Then he said, ‘In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
St Theresa considered herself as a child even into adulthood, believing that she was just a little, simple soul full of imperfections. But, like St Carlo she longed to become a saint.
Theresa pondered on how an elevator worked in a rich person’s house that would carry a person at speed to the next floor without having to use a staircase.
“I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched then in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: ‘Whoever is a little one let him come to me.’ The elevator which must raise me to heaven is your arms, O Jesus, and for this I have no need to grow up, but rather I have to remain little and become this more and more,”
Source: Story of the soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Chapter 9.
So, to succeed in this endeavor to reach Jesus without taking the hard stairway, St Therese developed ‘The Little Way’ philosophy of life. That is, all the smallest things we do for good can be offered to Jesus. He doesn’t expect us all to become great missionaries, making remarkable sacrifices. The smallest acts of mercy are acknowledged by Heaven. You can build your treasure in heaven incrementally with small acts of mercy made with great love.
The Eucharist: Our Highway to Heaven
St Carlo also sought a highway to heaven. A straight narrow path directly to the heart of God. He found it in the Eucharist. He said, “the Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
He also said, “When we face the sun we get a tan… but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist we become saints.”
By exposing our souls to the radiant light of grace shining from the blessed host, we become more Christ-like. And that will lead us to sainthood. For when we imitate Our Lord we will find it easier to carry out acts of mercy with deep love.
Sure, Jesus also calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. Our Lord and Our Lady can make great demands on us, for the reparations of souls, as I mention in the post ‘How to Pray for Peace during a Global Crisis’.
However, if they do not call us to great heroic achievements such as martyrdom or enormous suffering, we can still become saints through St Therese’s ‘Little Way’ and St Carlo’s example of Adoration.
What Next?
So what are you going to do to follow in the footsteps of SS Carlo Acutis and Theresa of the Child Jesus? Are you going to follow ‘The Little Way’? Mindfully, considering all of your actions, no matter how small, with great love of God and your fellow man? Or are you going to actively seek opportunities to sit before the blessed sacrament tanning yourself in God’s love and then carry His message to the rest of the world? Or maybe you will do both. No matter what you choose, know that both these paths will lead you to sainthood.
Let us know what action you will take in our Facebook group.
