PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Ahead of the canonization of Carlo Acutis, four parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn opened their doors for the faithful to honor the soon-to-be-saint.
The informal pilgrimage on Sept. 6 encompassed four parishes in Brooklyn and Queens: Sacred Heart Church in Bayside, St. Pancras Church in Glendale, St. Patrick Church in Bay Ridge, and the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Williamsburg.
The canonization of St. Carlo Acutis is not only a once-in-a-lifetime moment but a powerful reminder of how faith can thrive in today’s digital world, according to Father Randy Nguyen, parochial vicar for St. Patrick’s.
“He’s the first Millennial saint of our Church and of this generation, and he’s an inspiration for the young adults who are Catholic, who want to follow and be closer to God, and who believe that the Eucharist is really the true presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ,” Father Nguyen said.
On display at St. Patrick’s was a strand of St. Carlo Acutis’ hair. Father Nguyen said the relic was a gift to him from a fellow priest he had concelebrated a Mass with when in Rome while studying as a seminarian.
“When I received the relic, I knew one day he would be a saint because there were many miracles [attributed to him],” Father Nguyen said. “And when people were praying to Carlo, their prayers were being answered.”
Father Nguyen shared that he, too, has sought St. Carlo Acutis’ intercession in his personal life.
“I prayed for strength and for my family’s faith,” Father Nguyen said. “We should be committed [to our faith] and prayerful like Carlo in our lives.”
For parishioner Xiomara Class, praying for his intercession at St. Patrick’s meant having a chance to bring her adult daughter back into the faith. Moved by a recent special on EWTN that featured a father praying for his own daughter’s return to the Church through St. Carlo Acutis’s intercession, Class saw it as a sign to come pray before his relic.
“I’ve been praying to him so he could bring my daughter back to church, and hopefully God listens to my prayer,” Class said.
Class said the way St. Carlo Acutis draws young people to the faith is a sign of hope for the Church’s future. She said that while raising her niece and her nephew, she instilled the Catholic faith in their lives from a young age, and that these experiences make her prayers for her daughter and her devotion to St. Carlo Acutis even more meaningful.
“A family that prays together, stays together,” Class said. “And when you have problems in life, prayer helps you find peace.”
At Sacred Heart, Flavia Badillo and her husband, Gilbert, came to venerate another first-class relic of St. Carlo Acutis’ hair, and to pray for their grandchildren, and all youth.
Flavia recalled once finding a holy card of Carlo Acutis on the street, which she took as a sign, and brought it home to her grandson. Later, during a family pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes in Portugal, she got an image of St. Carlo Acutis for him, hoping to deepen his connection.
“He is an example of keeping the Eucharist very much alive in people’s lives, and in our youths,” Flavia said. “That emphasis on the Eucharist and his dedication will inspire and just bring them closer to Jesus.”
