the young italian carlo acutis he was only 15 years old when leukemia ended his life. Despite his young age, this “influencer” of God did not waste a minute of his path. Beatified on October 10, 2020 in Assisi, where his remains can be visited permanently since June 1, Carlo is today a example of holiness for many young people and teenagers all over the world who look at the devotion he professed for Jesus, the Virgin and the Eucharist.
A fan of video games and computers, Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006, was a young man of his time who liked to travel and be with his friends, with the necessary seasoning of always doing so with the presence of God close by. This was reflected in his admirable exhibition on-line about Eucharistic miracles and in a series of thoughts and phrases that he left as a legacy for everyone.
The Italian Professor of Latin and Greek Literature, Francesco Polopoli, has collected in a particular “spiritual alphabet” some of the main motivations that moved young Carlo in life.
The book Thoughts and words of Carlo Acutis (New Town), with a prologue by the Bishop of Nicosia (Sicily) Giuseppe Schillaci, invites Christians to rethink existence and listen to the voice of God through a thought of the blessed for each letter of the alphabet.
Beatification ceremony for Carlo Acutis in 2020.
1. The “A” of “Highway” towards the sky
The young Carlo summed up with a brilliant phrase what he himself would come to embody with his own life: “the Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” For the blessed, it is necessary for the Christian to start from a specific point, from a certain vital situation, to assume a personal reality, and “taking advantage” of the gift of the Eucharist in order to one day reach the definitive encounter with God. “Each communion brings us closer to the goal of holiness”Carlos assured. It is, therefore, a journey like pilgrims in constant conversion, even when moments of suffering arrive, as happened to him.
2. The “G” of “Thank you” to the Eucharist
Acutis, since his illness, always dreamed of reaching heaven without going through Purgatory. He used to say: “Those who come to the Eucharist every day go straight to Paradise.” For the Italian blessed, being a Christian is, above all, living by grace. God, Carlo affirmed, “is the Truth, and this does not need words, it expresses itself. It reveals the whole truth by itself. The voice of man is hard, arrogant, arrogant, arrogant, impatient, intractable, even violent . But getting used to the voice of God is a great grace. It means being attentive to the Truth“.
An ordinary word like “thank you” became, for him, an indelible sign of friendship, beauty and recognition to the One who gives you everything.
3. The “J” of the “Jeans” of the blessed
Carlo was born in 1991 and died in 2006, dates so recent for a blessed that they surprise anyone. And, it is that, the young Italian, like any boy of his time, rather, of this time, He was dressed in trendy jeans and sneakers.. Franciscan sandals and Benedictine habits, for him, were something left for the movies.
Carlo Acutis was also an athlete who trained in God’s gym. Her heart was the muscle of her soul. Little was needed to harden it but little was needed to soften it. It was only necessary to want to train and God did everything else.
4. The “S” of “Sanctification” by “subtraction”
“Sanctification is not a process of addition but of subtraction. I have to be less myself to leave space for God”, With this phrase, formulated by himself, Carlo immersed himself in the ordinary life of a boy his age. Whether it was at the neighborhood pizzeria or playing soccer with his friends, of very different ethnicities and religions, Acutis gave everyone who wanted it the “holiness kit”: Eucharist, Rosary, and a portion of the Bible daily, weekly confession, the willingness to give up something for others and have the desire for one’s own holiness. Such was the desire of the young blessed to go to Heaven that in the blog he created he called the saints his “friends in heaven.”
5. The “Z” of the “Zig-zag” of the Christian
Carlo Acutis’s life was a short journey full of curves. However, thanks to his illness, the young blessed discovered very early that rough roads are opportunities for the Christian to discern. The curves and crossroads, he understood, make us understand better that existence takes place beyond one’s own limits. The meanders of life can serve to get lost, but it is in that distraction when the beauty of being found by the Creator is reached. For Carlo it was also important to always have a sincere desire to have attitudes in a straight line in the midst of an existence that would already be zig-zag.
Can get here in Newtown the book Thoughts and words by Carlo Acutis (8 euros, 54 pages).
The life and spirituality of the popular blessed “influencer” Carlo Acutis, summarized in 5 words