On a sunny morning during Holy Week, students at St. Rita Catholic School in Alexandria gathered in small groups to learn about and venerate a first-class relic of soon-to-be-saint Carlo Acutis.
They also viewed his poster display, “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” part of the project Acutis completed just before his death.
Blessed Carlo Acutis Day at St. Rita April 16 celebrated the pending canonization of the world’s first millennial saint. The canonization, scheduled for April 27, was postponed following the death of Pope Francis April 21.
The relic shared with the students was three short hairs from Acutis’ body. Sharing about why she desires to share the relic with local Catholic schools, Annette Gibson, a parishioner of Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling and the custodian of the relic and poster display said, “It is a privilege. I get excited to do this. I’m nothing; I just bring the relic. (Acutis) is the one you want to focus on.” Gibson desired to promote devotion to Acutis particularly among young people.
“I consider him a friend, as I do other saints. I had no idea what I was going to do with (the poster display) but I followed the joy. I had so much joy working on this,” she said.
Small groups of students gathered quietly in the school library to learn about how the relic came to the U.S., and to venerate the relic and pray quietly. Each student also received a holy card, which they pressed to the first-class relic, effectively making the prayer card a third-class relic.
As they pursued the copies of Acutis’ display on Eucharistic miracles, students shared that they appreciated learning more about a saint who was their age when he began his work.
“He was only a couple years older than us and was our age when he started this,” said eighth grader Seamus Hardiman. “He feels relatable because he is such a new saint. You hear these stories about all these saints, way back in the 1200s to 1300s and you’re like, ‘This is kind of crazy, how is this possible?’ … But you look at him, and I can kind of relate to him.” Other students also felt encouraged knowing that someone their age and also a student could become holy.
“You see that even young people can become saints. And also, that even if he lived as a millennial in our day and age, he could still be connected to Christ in that way and he didn’t have to be born in like the 1500s or 1600s,” said eighth grader Saoirse Caslow.
Reflecting on how she obtained the relic, Gibson said that she had hoped to receive a first-class relic to draw more people to the poster display and to get to know Acutis.
“I persisted and by miraculous means, got in touch with his mother directly,” Gibson said. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, she doesn’t know me, I don’t know her. This is an email request and I’d better pray.’ So, this is my miracle from Blessed Carlo. I just held the prayer in my heart and I got the yes.”
Gibson invited the students to encounter Acutis on a personal level by venerating his relic and praying for their own intentions. “That’s my miracle and the reason I share it is because you have things you are praying for, too,” Gibson said. She said she hopes to continue sharing Acutis with other young people to encourage them in their faith.
Goss is a freelancer in Arlington.
