In the lives of the saints, we always discover luminous paths that can inspire Christians today, especially the young. Carlo Acutis, the Milanese teenager who died in 2006 at the age of fifteen, has already become a beacon for this generation. His brief, simple, and deeply God-centered life reminds us that the heart of Christian existence beats and is nourished in the Eucharist. The title of this reflection — “The Eucharist Celebrated, Adored — and Lived!” — is meant as a simple proposal to help us walk along his same spiritual path. For everyone, and especially for you young people, it could serve as a genuine program for life.
A couple of days after participating in our diocesan pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth, I visited Assisi and was able to learn firsthand about the life of this new saint. I also had the opportunity to pray before his body, which lies permanently clothed in a sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, but above all, with a young smile as serene as it is beautiful. In the midst of the Jubilee of Hope, during these summer days, I have witnessed how a new hope is springing forth for young people and for the Church. Carlo Acutis is one more light, an inspiration at once simple and powerful, a star appearing as a guide for the future on our journey as “pilgrims of Hope.”
The Eucharist Celebrated
Carlo was not content simply to “be a good kid.” He very quickly understood that the Mass was something central, something essential, for anyone who wanted to live a Christian life. From it he drew a special strength, like a vitamin for living. “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” he used to say. At a time when many Christians allow themselves to be carried along by habit or indifference, Carlo reminds us — even at such a young age — of the beauty and importance of celebrating the Eucharist. He sensed that without the Eucharist, faith gradually weakens until it fades away.
Indeed, Carlo — Saint Carlo, rather — had the habit, unusual for someone his age, of going to Mass every day. For him, it was his way of “always staying united to Jesus,” as he said. “That is my only program for life.” This was clear ever since his First Communion at age seven. For him, Sunday was an even more special day. It wasn’t just any day, but the most important day of the week, for on that day the whole Church gathers to listen to the Word of God and celebrate Christ’s victory over death. He wanted to take part in this, even if he didn’t fully understand all the elements of the liturgy. Incidentally, in his Diocese of Milan the Eucharist is celebrated according to the so-called Ambrosian Rite, which is slightly different from our Roman Rite.
Often, when I preach at Mass — especially the Sunday Eucharist — I like to remind those present that when we celebrate the faith together, a little miracle happens. A true “Eucharistic miracle.” When we celebrate our faith together, each person’s faith is strengthened. That is the great miracle. The Eucharist celebrated with our brothers and sisters, all gathered around the altar of Jesus, strengthens our life of faith. It unites us more closely to him, and it unites us more closely to one another. The Eucharist, celebrated, makes us stronger, more faithful, fills us with the joy of knowing ourselves as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. It helps us to be better, to direct our lives more faithfully according to his Word, and to make of our lives a commitment to building a better world. Celebrating the Eucharist does us so much good!
I would like to invite you, especially the young, to discover in your participation in the Eucharist — above all on Sundays — that moment of life so essential for you. This is how Saint Carlo lived it. It is not simply a matter of “fulfilling” a precept, but of encountering the Risen Lord, who gives himself to us as food for the journey, who strengthens our friendship with him, and who deepens our communion with others. Faith cannot be lived in isolation. Sunday Mass gathers us together, makes us family, turns us into the Church, creates harmony, and builds a great communion among us despite our differences.
The Eucharist Adored
Young Carlo cultivated an intense relationship with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He spent long stretches of time in adoration before the Eucharist. Sometimes this was before the monstrance; other times he liked to stop and pray before the tabernacles of churches. He loved to visit the Lord, to feel always close to him. There, in the sacramental presence of the Lord, he learned what it means to love, to discern, to offer both small and great sacrifices, and to recognize that he was cherished by his Friend. That constant closeness to Jesus gradually shaped his life, instilling in him a deep and deliberate way of living his faith. His mother testifies to what Carlo said in his final days: “I am happy. I am dying, but I have lived without wasting even a minute on anything that might displease God.”
We know that adoration is the continuation of the celebration: if in Holy Mass we welcome the Lord, in adoration we remain with him, like one friend who stays with another, knowing that such friendship is always good for us. Carlo liked to say, “When we stand in the sun we get a tan, but when we stand before the Lord in the Eucharist, we become saints.” But the second cannot be understood without the first. “To celebrate the Eucharist is not a mere rite, it is a real encounter with Jesus. The more we receive the Eucharist, the more we become like him.” What a contradiction it would be to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament but not go to Mass to receive him!
Saint Carlo learned “on his knees” before the Lord that each one of us is unique and special in his eyes. “We are born originals, but some die as photocopies,” Carlo lamented, seeing how many people failed to realize that in God’s eyes each of us has our own name and an important place in his heart. For this reason, the late Pope Francis — who first beatified Carlo and, because of his own death, was unable to preside at his canonization — often reminded us that in the Church, just as in the heart of Christ, everyone has a place. And this is the kerygma, the Good News that every man and woman of this world longs to hear deep in their heart: we are all loved by God, beyond every circumstance, and even more so if we are weak and sinful.
This is how young Carlo lived, with an intensity that others around him could perceive. He used to say: “Not I, but God. Without him I can do nothing.” Today, when hurry and distraction so often fill our lives, Eucharistic adoration is like an oasis. When you place yourself before the Blessed Sacrament — before the real and sacramental presence of Christ in the tabernacle, or before the Lord exposed in the monstrance — it is not about doing many things, but about being, about seeing and letting yourself be seen, about learning the silent language of love. Saint Carlo discovered that from this “being” flows a transforming strength to face trials, studies, friendships, failures, and, in his own case, finally, the illness that led to his death.
The Eucharist Lived
But young Carlo did not stop at celebration or adoration. And he was only fifteen years old! The Eucharist impelled him to go beyond himself. Friendship with Christ led him to care for others. Above all, he had a unique sensitivity for the poor he encountered on the streets. He also defended weaker classmates at school. Carlo used his knowledge of computers to speak about Jesus and to show the world the beauty of what was far more than just a hobby of collecting “Eucharistic miracles.” He not only helped with parish catechesis, but he was a true evangelizer through the internet and, above all, through the simple and joyful witness of his young life.
Here lies the key: Holy Mass does not end with “Go in peace.” It is precisely there that everything begins. The mission begins. What we have celebrated, we then carry into prayer and adoration. And from there, as a consequence, it naturally leads us to live it out concretely in our lives: at home, in our studies, in friendship, and in generous service to others. The Eucharist strengthens us, commits us to the path of charity, and moves us to perform works of love and mercy — just as it did for Carlo. In this way, our lives become a real testimony, as real as Christ’s sacramental presence. Others are able to see in us that what we celebrate and adore, we truly believe—because we live it.
Carlo, though only fifteen, understood according to his maturity that being a Christian is not mere theory, but a practice of love. His mother also testified to something Carlo often said when speaking of doing good and helping the poor: “Calcutta is not far away. It is right outside your door.” He was referring to that city in India where Mother Teresa discovered her “vocation within a vocation” to serve the poorest of the poor.
A Close Model for Everyone
Dear young people, Saint Carlo was a youth like you: he had friends, he played, he enjoyed himself, he studied, he loved music, sports, and technology. He did not live in a monastery, but in school and family life, like any one of us. And in the midst of that ordinary life, with only fifteen years, he managed to discover what is essential: that Christ is alive. Yes, he lives! He can be for you, as he was for young Carlo, an intimate companion on the journey. I invite you to find a friend in this new saint, an example that shows that holiness is not reserved for a select few, but is the vocation of all. We can be pleasing in God’s eyes without doing extraordinary things. It is enough to remain close to Jesus, to seek him, to let ourselves be accompanied by his friendship, and to walk in his ways. And this can be done always — whether you are fifteen or eighty.
From now on, we can pray to this new saint with the certainty given to us by the faith of the Church. We have in heaven a new mediator, an effective intercessor, just as Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Saint Ignatius of Loyola are for us. Let us ask the Lord, in faith, that Saint Carlo Acutis may intercede for us, so that each Eucharist we celebrate and adore will transform our lives, and so that through us, the world may be transformed into a place where that peace and love we so greatly need may reign.
Saint Carlo Acutis, ora pro nobis!
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Spanish at Alfa&Omega. It was translated into English and published on Where Peter Is with permission of the author.
Image: Saint Carlo Acutis
Bishop Fernando Prado Ayuso
Bishop Fernando Prado Ayuso, CMF, is the bishop of San Sebastián, Spain, and a member of the Claretian Missionaries. Before his episcopal appointment in 2022, he was best known as a theologian, professor, and publisher, particularly for his work in religious formation and evangelization.
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