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Soon-to-be saint's influence spreads
The reliquary containing remains of Blessed Carlo Acutis, and his photo.
CNS photo/Bob Roller
July 18, 2025
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Carlo Acutis’ awaited canonization as the first millennial saint is poised to occur in just over a month on Sept. 7.
The Italian computer whiz who famously developed a website documenting Eucharistic miracles before dying at age 15 in 2006 of leukemia will officially join the sainthood alongside the late Italian Catholic activist Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925).
In recent months, Catholics and non-Catholics have learned more about Acutis from a book written by his parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, which also features writings from the late youth himself. God’s Influencer: Holy Advice by Carlo Acutis chronicles how Carlo’s faith journey and example ultimately brought his parents back to the Lord.
The book also provides guidance from the soon-to-be St. Carlo on drawing closer to Jesus through the Eucharist, evangelizing the culture using modern media and kindling spiritual progress in daily, practical ways.
Mary Beth Bracey, a consecrated virgin of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, marvelled at how Acutis exemplified many ways to live as a dedicated Christian during his short lifespan.
“It was his passion to go to Mass as often as he could, even daily,” said Bracey, a Catholic educator and writer. “He stressed that to people. He also spent time in Eucharistic Adoration speaking to Jesus heart to heart. And even though he was so young, Carlo went to confession once a week, for instance, and he put a lot of emphasis on meditating upon the lives of the saints and reading Scriptures.”
Bracey shared with The Catholic Register the passage of Acutis, whom she and others liken to “Thomas Aquinas in blue jeans” — from the book she has contemplated while in Eucharistic Adoration. It reads:
“The Lord looks at me and I look at Him. His gazing enriches me. I let the Lord observe me, dig into me, so He can form my soul. That He might shape me. He is truly present. It is not an invention — He is there. If only everyone could realize this, they would run to Him. If people would believe in this truth, how it would change their lives?”
The words and example of Acutis have also inspired scores of Canadians.
Sebastian Garcia, a 23-year-old student engaged with Catholic Christian Outreach at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said what intrigued him immediately about Acutis is “that he was young, with a really strong faith and a deep love for God.”
Garcia became interested in learning more and dove into YouTube videos about Acutis. He came to appreciate the clarity of Acutis, pronouncing at just 15 years old that the “Eucharist is my highway to Heaven.” Garcia has incorporated prayers to Acutis for guidance into his daily spiritual life.
Christ the King Academy middle school teacher Olivia Liboiron and St. Joseph’s Collegiate high school educator Meghan Cruikshank, both from Brooks, Alta., planned to attend the canonization in person when it was originally scheduled for April 27. However, the event was postponed due to the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Instead, Liboiron and Cruikshank were among the thousands of Catholics who witnessed the late pontiff’s April 26 funeral in St. Peter’s Square.
Liboiron said she feels a strong connection to Acutis as she, too, enjoyed creating websites as a teenager. Throughout the 2024-25 school year, she routinely celebrated him in prayer.
“Every Friday when we do our Catholic Learning Communities (prayer gatherings), we pray a litany to the saints,” said Liboiron. “I prayed for the prayers of Blessed Carlo Acutis all year.”
Liboiron also admires that Acutis transmitted the Gospel primarily “using his actions rather than his words.”
For Cruikshank, Acutis' work to share the good news of Eucharistic miracles resonated with her in a very personal way. She said there have been multiple occasions where the “Eucharist has turned to flesh and blood in my mouth and I have felt like a gnawing on the Eucharist as if it's flesh and swallowed and tasted blood before.”
"So to have this young man research into those things and then for me to have experienced something like that, I don't think that's a coincidence,” Cruikshank. "I think God is saying ‘get closer to this child of mine whom I love and whom I am showing my favour towards to help you get closer to me.’ ”
(Amundson is a staff writer for The Catholic Register.)
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Photo courtesy Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design Inc.
