St. Carlo Acutis

Carlo Acutis is the first saint of the millennial generation, and almost nothing about his life was unusual. He went to school in Milan, first with the Marcelline Sisters, then to the Jesuit-run Istituto Leone XIII. He was cheerful and outgoing, helped classmates who were struggling, and gave part of his pocket money to people who begged in his neighborhood. He was a catechist at his parish, Santa Maria Segreta.

What set him apart was where the center of that life sat. He went to Mass every day, and on days school made it impossible he made a spiritual communion instead. He made small sacrifices in reparation for the lack of love shown to Jesus in the Eucharist, and he told his friends about all of it. "The Eucharist is my highway to heaven," he said — the line he is most remembered for. Working on the parish website with an engineering student, he taught himself to design and build web pages, and put the skill to use: a site for a volunteering project at his school in the summer of 2006, a page for the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum, even a layout for praying the Rosary. He spent summers in Assisi and took up the Franciscan habits of joy and care for creation. He described his own plan simply: "To always be close to Jesus."

In October 2006 he was diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia. His health collapsed within days. He offered his suffering for the Pope and for the Church, and died on 12 October, fifteen years and five months old. Pope Leo XIV canonized him on 7 September 2025.