Saint Carlo Acutis

Carlo Acutis was born in London on 3 May 1991, where his parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, were living for his father's work. He was their first child. The family soon settled in Milan, and Carlo grew up there like any other boy, with one difference: from an early age he loved the faith. He was admitted to First Communion at only seven. He went to the parish of Santa Maria Segreta, studied with the Marcelline Sisters through elementary and middle school, and then with the Jesuits at high school.

At twelve he began going to Mass and receiving Communion every day, and as he grew into his teens he added the daily rosary and time in Eucharistic adoration. He was convinced that standing in the sun gives you a tan, but standing before Jesus in the Eucharist makes you a saint. He put together what he called a kit for becoming a saint, and he gave it away freely: a great desire for holiness, daily Mass, Communion, and the rosary, a portion of the Bible each day, some adoration, weekly confession, and a readiness to give something up for others.

Carlo also loved computers and video games. He taught himself programming and web design, helped his parish and school with digital projects, and served as a catechist. Several people around him were drawn toward the Church through his example. At fourteen he designed and built an online exhibition about Eucharistic miracles, which later traveled around the world, and he also gathered accounts of Marian apparitions. For him the Eucharist was a highway to heaven. On his website he kept a section about young saints, whom he called his friends in heaven.

He was struck by a rapid form of leukemia and offered his suffering for the pope and the Church. He died on 12 October 2006, at the San Gerardo hospital in Monza, aged fifteen. His relics are displayed in Assisi. He was beatified in 2020 after the recognition of a miracle in Campo Grande, Brazil, and a second miracle was attributed to him in 2024. Pope Leo XIV canonized him on 7 September 2025, together with Pier Giorgio Frassati. He is the first millennial to be named a saint, and many call him the patron of the internet.

Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.