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December 19, 2024Annie Schneider sees herself as an ordinary teenager. Not all that different from a saint in the making.
A younger generation now recognizes a model for authentic Catholic life: Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian teen soon to be canonized a saint and already dubbed “The Millennial Saint.” Blessed Carlo was an Italian website designer who documented Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions before his 2006 death from leukemia at the age of 15.
Noted for his advanced computer skills, cheerfulness and devotion to the Eucharist, Pope Francis beautified him in 2020 and recently announced Blessed Carlo will be canonized a saint on April 27 in St. Peter’s Square, closing the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers.
“The most fascinating thing about Blessed Carlo to me,” said Schneider, a 16-year-old practicing Catholic at Saint Peter Catholic Church in Woodward, “is that he lived a very ordinary life. So many things he did – be with his schoolmates, having a computer, playing soccer – I do these things in my everyday life.
“It’s very breathtaking to experience a (soon-to-be) saint that lived a life much like my own. Many other saints don’t live like we do now, and he really did. That is what really fascinates me about Blessed Carlo.”
A committed young Catholic in her own right, Schneider strives to attend Mass during the weekdays when she can and find practical ways to incorporate Eucharistic devotion into her own spiritual practices, as did Acutis.
“One thing Blessed Carlo is known for is that he drew his mother and family back to the Holy Eucharist,” said Schneider. “His fascination with the Eucharist brought people back to Jesus. It has made me realize I have my own power to bring my family back to the Eucharist.”
While Acutis’ attraction to technology is one of the cornerstones of his story, one can only imagine what his thoughts would be with the way technology has intensified and grown since his lifetime.
“Blessed Carlo has helped me learn that technology is one of balance,” said Schneider. “He used technology for the greater good, he didn’t allow it to overwhelm his life. He never wasted a moment on technology; he only used it to glorify God.
“In our overwhelming world where technology is taking the forefront, this is what inspires me most.”
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not), who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their life for others, or were martyred for the faith, and who are worthy of imitation.
“I think with all the saints, it’s most notable that sanctity is possible for us,” said seminarian Dominick Denney, whose home parish is Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Enid. “We tend to look at the saints, the Blessed Mother for example, and think how could we possibly attain that? Holiness is not just reserved for bishops, cardinals and popes.
“All Christians are called to be saints. Carlo’s life emphasizes this and that we can do this.”
In official Church procedures there are three steps to sainthood: a candidate becomes "Venerable," then "Blessed" and then "Saint."
Venerable is the title given to a deceased person recognized formally by the Pope as having lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life. To be beatified and recognized as a Blessed, one miracle acquired through the candidate's intercession is required in addition to recognition of heroic virtue or offering of life. Canonization requires a second miracle after beatification.
“Carlo loved video games, but he put that below his love of the Lord, the Holy Mass and the Eucharist,” said Denney. “Loving the Lord is not necessarily about sacrificing one’s hobbies, it is to find the love of the Lord within those hobbies. Carlo used his hobbies to glorify God.”
Acutis’ mother was confirmed while she was in college and was married in the Church, but she did not attend Mass before Acutis was born. Her son's faith and his insistent questions brought her back to the faith.
“Usually with young people it’s the parents dragging them to Mass, but Carlo was dragging his parents to Mass,” said Denney, currently at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri. “We can look to him as an excellent example of what it’s like to love the Lord with undivided attention. We must love God above all things. Carlo didn’t allow his hobbies to get in the way of his sanctity, but rather they lead him to it.”
Denney has two years remaining in the seminary before achieving priesthood. He regularly visits Saint Joseph Catholic School in Enid, attending to the children.
“In my life I have noticed the children, the little ones, are the ones most in touch with the Lord,” said Denney. “When I visit the school, I am blown away by the things the children say. It is because of their innocence, and they are more aware and in touch with the workings of the Holy Spirit. It’s just beautiful seeing the youth. We can be saints. It’s not something that is too lofty.”
“We need to ask for Carlo’s intercession for the sake of the internet, as there are plenty of things on the internet that lead us away from God. We need to maintain hope in his intercession and ability to help us in that endeavor.”
Across the archdiocese this year, young Catholics were already claiming Blessed Carlo as their patron saint. And across the nation, more young Catholics have a saint they can relate to; not one from decades or centuries ago, but one who walked in faith during their lifetime.
“I have had a special devotion to Blessed Carlo for a few years now,” Schneider said. “When you travel with a potential saint while they are Blessed and they ultimately become a saint, it’s very special to me because of the journey we have been on together.”
Joanna Borelli is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi presses a relic – a fragment of the pericardium (the membrane surrounding the heart) of Bl. Carlo Acutis – to the head of Archbishop Coakley before Mass and the Eucharistic Procession in New York City in October. Photo by John Helsley.
