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Friends of the Rosary,
Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), the First Millennial Saint, a Catholic Italian teenager who died in 2006, was canonized on September 7, 2025, and is today the patron Saint of youth, the internet, and computer programmers.
Acutis, a gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist, was a model of holiness in a digital age, as Pope Francis described him.
Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London, though his family moved to Milan shortly after. From a young age, Carlo had a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. His mom said she had been to Mass only for her First Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding, but young Carlo’s unique and unexplained devotion led to her deep conversion.
The priest promoting his cause for sainthood noted that Carlo “managed to drag his relatives, his parents, to Mass every day. It was not the other way around; it was not his parents bringing the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed to get himself to Mass and to convince others to receive Communion daily.”
He had a gift for empathy and was known for defending kids at school who got picked on, especially disabled kids. Carlo loved soccer and video games. He tried to stay disciplined and play games for only an hour a week, even though he really wanted to play more. He also bought computer programming books and taught himself computer coding and animation. He had a great devotion to Mary and loved to pray the rosary. He went to Mass and confession as often as he could.
He loved the Eucharist and was fascinated by Eucharistic miracles. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles. Using his research, he began creating what would eventually become a website to catalog and share the information with others. Carlo was concerned by people growing distant to the Church and the sacraments and desperately wanted to bring them back. On the site, he 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.”
At age 15, Carlo was diagnosed with an untreatable leukemia. He offered up his suffering for others coping with illness and said, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” Carlo died from his illness on Oct. 12, 2006. At his request, he was buried in Assisi because of his love for St. Francis. His cause for canonization began in 2013, and he was designated “Venerable” in 2018. A healing miracle has been attributed to his intercession, and he will be designated “Blessed” on October 10.
His tomb has been opened, and his intact body lies in repose in a glass tomb where he can be venerated by pilgrims until Oct. 17.
He is displayed in jeans and a pair of Nikes, the casual clothes he preferred in life. “For the first time in history we will see a saint dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweater,” said the rector of the Sanctuary of Spoliation in Assisi, where Acutis’ tomb is located. “This is a great message for us; we can feel holiness not as a distant thing but as something very much within everyone’s reach because the Lord is the Lord of everyone.”
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said, “Carlo is a boy of our time. A boy of the internet age, and a model of holiness of the digital age.”
Also, today marks the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which will conclude on October 12, 2027. Pope Leo XIV declared a Guadalupan Jubilee Year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!
Here I am, Lord; I come to do Your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!
+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York
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