Excerpt from Pope Leo’s March 28 address to young people and catechumens in the principality of Monaco.

The church we are currently in is dedicated to Saint Devota, patron saint of the Principality of Monaco. She was a courageous young woman who knew how to bear witness to her faith in the face of violent persecution, even unto martyrdom. Providentially, her body was brought here from Corsica to what is now the Monegasque coast. They had sought to destroy her body and wipe away every memory of her, yet her sacrifice has carried the Gospel message of peace and of love even further. This helps us to reflect on the fact that good is stronger than evil, even though at times it seems to be losing in the short-term. It reminds us that bearing witness to the faith is a seed that can spread and bear fruit in faraway hearts and places, well beyond our own expectations and capabilities.

In this church, the memory of the Holy Martyr Devota has recently been joined by that of Saint Carlo Acutis, another young person in love with Jesus and loyal to his friendship with Christ to the very end, albeit in completely different times and ways: through charity, through his apostolate on the web — of which we venerate him as patron — and finally through his illness.

Dear young people, these two saints encourage us and spur us on to imitate them. Even today the faith faces challenges and obstacles yet nothing can dim its beauty and truth. We can see this in the growing number of men and women of all ages who desire to know the Lord and ask to be baptized.

The modern and postmodern eras have enriched our lives in many ways, offering us unprecedented opportunities and possibilities in areas such as culture, medicine, healthcare, technology and communication. However, they also present us with significant challenges that we cannot ignore and that we must face with clarity of mind and understanding. We live in a world that always seems to be in a hurry, eager for novelty, obsessed with unfettered fluidity… an almost compulsive need for constant change, be it in fashions, appearances, relationships, ideas, or even the dimensions of the person that are essential to their very identity.

However, it is love that gives stability to life. It is, first and foremost the fundamental experience of God’s love, and then, by extension, the sacred and enlightening experience of mutual love. While loving one another requires, on the one hand, an openness to growth and thus to change, on the other hand it demands fidelity, constancy and a willingness to make sacrifices in daily life. Only in this way does restlessness find peace and the inner emptiness that get filled not with material and fleeting things, the virtual approval of thousands of likes or temporary, artificial and sometimes even violent relationships. We must clear the doorway of the heart of these things, so that the healthy, life-giving air of grace can refresh and revitalize its chambers, and so the strong wind of the Holy Spirit can once again fill the “sails” of our existence, propelling us towards true happiness….

All of this, my dear friends, requires prayer, moments of silence and reflection to quiet the frenzy of doing and saying, of messages, reels and chats, and to delve deeper into and savor the beauty of truly and genuinely being together. In this regard, Saint Carlo Acutis spoke of the Eucharist as the “highway to Heaven” and of Eucharistic Adoration as a sunbath, capable of tanning the soul.

If this is true of the spiritual life and prayer, it is equally true of practicing charity….In this light, we can also interpret Saint Augustine’s beautiful — though sometimes misunderstood — phrase, “Love and do what you will.” In other words, love is a free gift to God and to others; stay close and do not walk away, even when we cannot solve every problem or resolve every difficulty. Stay nearby, with love and faith.  

This is how Saint Devota found the strength to give up her life completely, and this is how Saint Carlo Acutis walked his path of holiness, leaving a trail of light even in the world of the web.

Dear young people, do not be afraid to give everything — your time, your energy — to God and to your brothers and sisters, to pour yourselves out completely for the Lord and for others. Only in this way will you find an everlasting joy and an ever-deeper meaning in life.