Written by Fr. Dan Janasik

With the church in the midst of a “Year of Eucharistic Revival,” there are many saints who can be looked to as models of love for Jesus who is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. A new hero of mine is a modern-day teenager named Carlo Acutis. Carlo is an Italian boy who died from leukemia at the age of 15 in the year 2006. He offered his sufferings for the Church, saying “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.”

Growing up in Italy, Carlo was a normal boy who enjoyed video games and soccer. Even though his parents were not particularly religious, Carlo developed a deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist. While in many families it is the parents who drag their teenagers to church, in the Acutis family it was the opposite! Carlo was the one who wanted to receive Communion every day and kept dragging his parents to church with him! He would make a holy hour of silent prayer before or after Mass, he went to Confession every week, and prayed the rosary daily.

At school, Carlo was known for defending other kids who were picked on, especially disabled children.  

Carlo had a talent for website design, and he used his talents to create a website documenting Eucharistic Miracles– instances when the bread and wine at Mass visibly turned into physical heart tissue and human blood. Carlo said, "the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven."

Carlo was declared by the church to be “venerable” in 2018 (the first step to sainthood), and then in 2020, Pope Francis beatified him in the final stage before sainthood. He is now known as Blessed Carlo Acutis. His official website is: https://carloacutis-en.org/