Raised to the Honor of the Altar

RAISED TO THE HONOR OF THE ALTAR
Carlo Acutis & Pier Giorgio Frassati
 
Today His Holiness Pope Leo XIV canonizes in St. Peter’s Square, Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young,saints as models for a new generation of Catholics. In a world longing for authentic witnesses of holiness, two young lives are set to light the way for a new generation of Catholics.
 
Carlo Acutis, born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, embraced a deep love for the Eucharist from an early age. “To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan,” he once told his mother after receiving his First Communion. Carlo was not only devoted to daily Mass and acts of charity—he was also a tech-savvy teenager who used his digital skills to evangelize. His Eucharistic Miracles website, which catalogued over 100 documented cases of Eucharistic phenomena, has since traveled to thousands of parishes worldwide.

Now, just 19 years after his death from leukemia at age 15, he will be canonized—a process that historically took centuries. Carlo’s  witness has brought people to conversion, including his own family and his Hindu au pair, who converted to Catholicism. “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints,” In 2020, Bishop O’Connell named the then, “Blessed Carlo” Patron of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Trenton. An image of Saint Carlo will be displayed in our parish churches—at the side altar at St. Anthony and on the wall in the east transept (near the piano) at Our Lady of Sorrows. Our school students will honor St. Carlo at the 9:00 am Mass, this Friday, September 12.
  
Joining Carlo in sainthood is another beloved figure—Pier Giorgio Frassati. Born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, Frassati was a mountaineer, student, and tireless servant of the poor. His motto, Verso l’Alto—“to the heights”—reflects both his love of mountain climbing and his spiritual aspiration toward heaven. Frassati contracted polio at the age of 24, likely from his charitable work among the sick. He died on July 4, 1925, and his legacy has endured among Catholic youth movements and service organizations around the world.
 
The decision to canonize both men on the same day highlights the Vatican’s desire to place young, relatable models of holiness before today’s faithful. Together, Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati show that holiness is not reserved for the past, nor is it distant from ordinary life. It is alive and climbing—toward the heights.