The life of the Blessed Saint Carlo Acutis is celebrated in Ardglass and Dunsford Parish
The relic of Saint Carlo Acutis arrived at St Nicholas’ Church in Ardglass on Tuesday 13th May, the feast day of St Fatima.
Fr McCluskey had organised this very significant religious event in Ardglass with the help of a hundred volunteers and with the guidance of Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo who is bringing the word of this millennial saint across Ireland.
He said: “The hard work in organising this great event has paid off. It has been a huge community event and I’m delighted to see people here today from parishes from as far as Donegal and all over Down along with our own parishioners.
“My thanks go to the large team of volunteers who did very well, and to the support from Monsignor Figueiredo who is leading this project of promoting the life and works of Saint Carlo Acutis across Ireland.”
For Monsignor Anthony it is dedicated to his labour of love as he is working in the Catholic Church to promote the ground-breaking work of Carlo before he died at just 15 years old of leukaemia.
Having taught in a number of seminaries and served in the Spiritual Directorate in the Church, and having worked closely with the media, Monsignor Anthony has embraced his new role with a passion.
He originates from the Cathedral of San Rufino in the Diocese of Assisi in Italy and has followed the short life of Carlo Acutis.
In his biography of Carlo, ‘Light the Flame of Faith,’ Monsignor Anthony said that Carlo had provided a simple roadmap for other to follow and immerse themselves in the faith in a 5-point action plan.
In a letter in the book’s forward, Pope Francis II wrote: “Your work shall contribute to learning more about the figure of Blessed Carlo, who knew how to walk the way of holiness, allowing himself to be transfigured by love of God and neighbour.”
Monsignor Anthony addresses initially the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland going back to the day of St Patrick, and moves up to the modern day and the problems that the Church has faced.
He expressed his concern that the modern reality of the Catholic Church is that it is facing an increasing trend to secularism, and he wrote: “But in our time, in our generation, Ireland perhaps more than other nations in Western civilisation is facing unprecedented times.“
And moving beyond that, he discusses the millenial saint, Carlo Acutis, who was born in London in 1991 but moved with his parents at a young age to Milan in Italy.
Having inspired many people across the world with his holiness and opening the door for others to follow, Carlo demonstrated from a very early age that he was indeed different.
He was a precocious child, intelligent, proving an expert in computing, showing a love for beggars, disabled people and those in need demonstrating acts of charity. He said: “Everyone is born an individual but many people end up dying as photocopies.”
But Monsignor Anthony says, as Carlo channeled his divine pathway to God, he created a 5-point roadmap to holiness. And the appeal to follow Carlo’s example is a powerful call for many Catholics young and old to revive their faith.
Carlo said in one of his many quotes: “God seems to call the little people to do great things for Him.”
Monsignor Anthony added that “with holiness, it is possible to break through the darkness, in and at any age, and in every state of life. We are all called to it. Ireland is called to it.”
And Carlo had Holiness in abundance.
His parents were not practising Catholics. He was baptised but they as a family did not go to mass on a regular basis. Carlo attended mass daily, went to confessions and other services and eventually his parents followed suit and walked with him on the highway to holiness.
Carlo Acutas – The Five Steps to Holiness:
- Carlo believed in received the Eucharist frequently.
- He deepended his Eucharistc Adoration with Jesus through the mass.
- He was a regular attender at confessions and sought out a spiritual guide.
- He was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.
- And he made many acts of charity on a regular basis to those in need. Carlo said ‘we need to love each other‘.
At 15, Carlo died of leukaemia. Towards his end, he said he was happy to die young in the knowledge he had achieved holiness and there was nothing more for him to achieve in this world.
Carlo found holiness though his suffering and death in 2006. He became fatigued with tasks at school, and a visit to the doctor initially did not pick up the root cause of his illness. He illness progressed quickly, and he eventually could not rise from bed.
See 54 photos for the visit of the relic of Carlo Asuntas to Ardglass
After further tests, it was discovered he had promyelocytic leukaemia.
But Carlo suffered quietly and serenely. Fr Sandro began the Anointing of the Sick after being called by Carlo, and the hospital chaplain said for a young boy to be so ill, he was amazed “by the composure and devotion with which he received two sacraments. It was difficult for him, but he seemed to have been waiting for them and needed them.”
Monsignor Figueiredo said that after 13 days of illness, with his sense of living life to the full, Carlo died with a radiant smile on his face. He had had a cerebral haemorrhage – and he was brain dead – his heart kept beating.
And today, in Ardglass, a tiny piece of his heart was in the reliquary, the container that Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo brought to Ardglass and Dunsford Parish, and faith was renewed.
A short time after his death, word spread about Italy about the brief life and death of Carlo and eventually he was beatified in Assisi in October 2020.
Carlo said: “Not I, but God“. He used his prodigious talents to the full to help others on the path to Jesus and Heaven.
To read more about this amazing millennial saint, read “Blessed Carlo Acutis: Light the Flame of Faith“, by Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo.
See 54 photos for the visit of the relic of Carlo Asuntas to Ardglass
