Blessed Carlos Acutis relics to visit Corduff 

A RELIC of the first millennial saint will be brought to Ireland next month by three Franciscan friars from Assisi.  

St. Patrick’s Parish, Corduff recently announced that a First Class Relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis will arrive to the Parish on September 10.  

The relic is a fragment of the membrane that surrounds the heart and will be accompanied by Fr. Marco, parish priest of Assisi where Carlo’s incorrupt body lies. 

Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 and died at the young age of 15 from a rare form of leukemia.   

He was a typical teenager who loved computer games, animals and sports and was a fan of AC Milan.   

He also had a deep devotion to the Eucharist and made it the very centre of his life.   

He wanted to share his love of the Eurcharist with the world and designed a website where he catalogued over 150 Eucharistic miracles (www.miracolieucaristici.org).   

It is reported that his last words were “I die happy because I didn’t spend any minute of my life on anything unpleasant to God”.   

The campaign for his canonisation began in 2013 and he was designated “Venerable” in 2018, a term which recognises that an individual was “heroic in virtue” through their actions during their lifetime.   

Since his death many miracles have been attributed to his intercession.   

There are three steps to becoming a saint in the Catholic Church.  

First, the pope must declare a deceased person “Venerable,” a formal recognition that they lived a heroically virtuous life.   

In order to be beatified, and recognized as “Blessed”, they must have taken part in a miracle, which is usually one of healing.   

Canonization requires a second miracle after beatification.  

Acutis was beatified in October 2020, after the Vatican officially recognized that he interceded from heaven in 2013 to save the life of a Brazilian child who was suffering from a rare pancreatic condition.   

The Vatican said 4-year-old Matheus Vianna was healed after praying to Acutis and coming into contact with one of his relics, a piece of clothing.  

A second miracle was attributed to Acutis in May of this year.   

A girl from Costa Rica suffered a serious head trauma after falling off a bike in Florence, Italy, but recovered against the odds after her mother prayed at Acutis’ tomb in Assisi.  

Acutis’ mother, Antonia Salzano, said that the second miracle approval was both “a great joy” and “a sign of hope.”  

Corduff Parish, which is under the care of the Pallottine Fathers, are delighted by the visit of the relic; Carlo shared his devotion to the Blessed Eucharist with their founder Saint Vincent Pallotti.   

The Pallottine Fathers are renowned for their devotion to the Eucharist and encourage the lay community to be active participants within their parishes.   

“Please God, through the intercession of Blessed Carlo and Saint Vincent a great Grace will come to our parish community and to all who join us for the visit, Fr John O’Connor S.A.C. told Northside People.  

Speaking about Acutis in 2020, Pope Francis discussed the characteristics of the youngster that he admired – values that were to be aspired to by all Catholics, especially younger ones.  

According to the Pope, Acutis did not “ease into comfortable immobilism” during his lifetime, but rather “understood the needs of his time” and adapted, while still believing that “true happiness is found by putting God in first place”.