A Relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a Catholic Italian teenager who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, toured several parishes in the Diocese of San Bernardino from mid-June through early August. The tour was coordinated by the Diocesan Office of Ministry With Young Catholics, working in collaboration with Diocesan Archivist Arlene Gutierrez. While visiting the various parishes, Blessed Carlo and his story encouraged participation the National Eucharistic Revival and inspired the youth to grow closer to God.
Some of the parishes that Blessed Carlo visited were: St. Peter & St. Paul, Alta Loma; St. Joseph, Upland; Blessed Sacrament, Twentynine Palms; St. Joan of Arc, Victorville; St Francis of Assisi, La Quinta; Our Lady of Assumption, San Bernardino; St. John XXIII, Fontana; St. Francis de Sales, Riverside, Our Lady of Guadalupe, San Bernardino; St. James the Less, Perris and St. Anthony in Upland.
The relic is a lock of Blessed Carlo’s hair and was loaned to the Diocese by St. Clare Parish in the Diocese of Sacramento. Blessed Carlo was declared the Patron Saint for the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress held on June 24 and the relic was one of several made available that day for the faithful to venerate.
Each parish made time for veneration and allowed parishioners to come up to the relic, view him, touch him, and place an item such as a rosary, prayer card or other item on the relic, which made their item a third-class relic.
On July 18, the relic of Blessed Carlo visited the St. Junipero Serra House of Formation in Grand Terrace, which was a night of inspiration and prayer through Blessed Carlo’s presence.
Seminarian Oliver Garcia started off the evening with a presentation on Blessed Carlo’s life and journey. Then, due to an outpouring of parishioners sitting outside of the Serra House, the congregation processed to nearby Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church. Mass was celebrated by Father Hau Vu, Diocesan Vocations Director.
“We experienced a miracle, we expected not too many people here, we expected 10 to 15, but God really provided with more than we asked for,” Fr. Vu said.
During his homily Fr. Vu spoke about Blessed Carlo’s devotion to the Eucharist and called other young people to follow in his example to not let temptations and distractions, like video games, which even tempted Blessed Carlo, to prevent them from getting closer to God.
“No matter what happens I know to still pursue Christ, through the hardships of your life even through the distractions of the world,” said Madeline Jimenez, Youth Confirmation Coordinator for St. Christopher Catholic Church, Moreno Valley.
“We want to be a part of [the world] but yet, if you want to feel that peace, we also have to give ourselves to Jesus. To me it’s all coming to Jesus and that’s what I found in this process.”
After the Mass, the congregation prayed the Rosary with a special intention for vocations and the seminarians.
“I think that from being in this experience, I learned that [Blessed Carlo] was making a call to the youth to grow closer to God closer to faith,” Seminarian Luis Morales said. “The youth look to follow his example.”
After praying the Rosary, the congregation was able to venerate the relic and place their items on Blessed Carlo.
“We just feel very gracious that we’re able to pray for vocations and for seminarians who came as well,” Fr. Vu said. “It was really a blessed, amazing and miraculous experience through this Mass and through this veneration of the relic.”
A brief history of Blessed Carlo: On May 3, 1991, Carlo Acutis was born of a mother who, before that day, said she did not have faith. Only when Carlo came into her life did she say that changed.
After Carlo made his First Communion at the age of seven, he convinced his parents to take him to daily Mass as often as he could, he attended weekly confession, loved to pray the Rosary, and even asked his parents to take him to places of the saints and sites of Eucharistic miracles.
As a typical young boy, Carlo loved to play video games but also had special gifts of computer programming. Carlo used his gift and created a website dedicated to cataloguing and promoting his passion of Eucharistic miracles. As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away on Oct. 12, 2006, at the age of 15.
Before his passing, Carlo offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” For his devotion to the Eucharist, his cause for canonization began in 2013. In 2018, he was designated “Venerable” and in 2020 was designated “Blessed.” Blessed Carlo’s Beatification Mass was celebrated on Oct. 10, 2020, in Assisi with his heart presented as a relic.
Elena Macias is the Managing Editor of the Inland Catholic BYTE.