CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (OSV News) - "I'm happy to die because I've lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn't have pleased God."
Blessed Carlo Acutis, who said these famous words, was known as a teenager of our time, with an extraordinary devotion to the gift of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
As part of the U.S. bishops' National Eucharistic Revival's Year of the Parish, Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville brought Blessed Carlo Acutis' international "Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of the World" to parishioners after all Masses on a recent July weekend in hopes of bringing his inspirational devotion to youth and adults alike.
Blessed Acutis "was just an ordinary guy who loved Jesus," Marcia Sundberg, Immaculate Conception's point-person for the Eucharistic revival, told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese. "His example, his life is such a good example for all of us, but especially for young people."
Father Jacob Dio, pastor of Immaculate Conception, agreed.
"We have a lot of youth here," Father Dio said. "Not a lot of people know about Carlo Acutis, but he's really just a modern youth who wore jeans and a T-shirt, but who had a deep devotion to Jesus, so we definitely thought this would inspire a lot of young people."
The exhibition, created and designed by Blessed Acutis himself, explains every eucharistic miracle ever documented around the world. The 156-poster display is currently being shown on five different continents, and has miracles listed across 20 countries and witnessed by multiple saints and beatified individuals.
Blessed Acutis, an Italian teen who died of leukemia in 2006 and was beatified in 2020, is entombed in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi. The 15-year-old's use of technology to spread devotion to the Eucharist prompted Pope Francis to hail him as a role model for young people today.
Born May 3, 1991, and raised in an wealthy Italian family by parents who were not extremely religious, Carlo was 4 when his late maternal grandfather appeared to his grandson in a dream and asked that he pray for him.
From there, Carlo's interest in religious practice was sparked. Upon receiving his first Communion at age 7, he soon became a regular attendee of Mass and confession.
Throughout his youth, he was considered a friend to all, standing up for those being bullied, and engaged in the same activities as any modern boy would, such as video games and watching films. But he remained devoted to his faith, using his reputation as a "computer geek" to create a website cataloging every Eucharistic miracle ever reported and approved by the Vatican.
"To always be close to Jesus, that's my life plan," Carlo Acutis once said. "Our destination must be what is infinite, not what is finite. Infinity is our homeland. We have been expected in Heaven since time immemorial."
On Oct. 2, 2006, he fell ill with what seemed to be an ordinary flu. One week later, after things did not improve, he was diagnosed with M3 acute leukemia. Considered to be in critical condition, he received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and holy Communion Oct. 10, 2006, and fell into a coma Oct. 11, 2006, due to a brain hemorrhage caused by the leukemia. Carlo died at 6:45 a.m. Oct. 12, 2006. He was 15.
Carlo's funeral was attended by so many people that several had to remain outside. He is buried at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, Italy, in accordance with his wishes.
It took five years for Carlo' sainthood cause to be officially opened, and he was declared a "Servant of God" Oct. 12, 2012.
By 2013, the Vatican had approved the petition for his canonization and a diocesan investigation opened Feb. 15, 2013, and was concluded Nov. 24, 2016.
Pope Francis confirmed Carlo's life was one of heroic virtue and declared him "Venerable" July 5, 2018.
Early in 2020, the pope approved a miracle attributed to Carlo: the healing of a young Brazilian boy from a rare congential disease of the pancreas after he touched a photo of Carlo. On Oct. 10, 2020, Carlo was proclaimed "Blessed" at Assisi, where he is buried. A second miracle confirmed as occurring through the teen's intercession is needed for his canonization.
In Clarksville, among those taking in the Eucharistic miracles exhibit was 11-year-old Nathan Kent, an upcoming sixth-grade student at Immaculate Conception School, who said he enjoyed looking through and reading about the various miracles with his father, Jeffrey Kent, a member of Knights of Columbus Council 3537.
"It was really cool seeing all the stuff (Blessed Carlo Acutis) did," Nathan said, noting some of the most surprising miracles in the exhibit such as those that talked about witnessing bleeding hosts and Jesus extending his hand from the crucifix to grab the chalice from the priest.
"The priest just fell to his knees and asked for forgiveness," Nathan explained. "Then Jesus returned the chalice."
"It's really cool that since (Carlo Acutis) did all that work" to gather the Eucharistic miracles, "God made him an incorruptible," he added.
And it wasn't just the youth who were enamored with the display. Monice Ntatin, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception, called it terrific and powerful.
"In the world of today, even within the Catholics, I think this is very powerful because people should know more about the power of Jesus in the most holy sacrament. It's been neglected," Ntatin said. "There is a lot we can learn from Blessed Carlo Acutis in our everyday life and our prayer life, and if he could do all this that means there is a lot we could do as well."
Immaculate Conception is planning to share the exhibit with different organizations, schools, and parishes across the diocese once a team is put together.
Caption: At Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville, Tenn., Victoria Sanchez, 9, looks over an exhibition created and designed by Blessed Carlo Acutis that explains every Eucharistic miracle documented around the world. The 156-poster display is currently being shown on five different continents and has miracles listed across 20 countries and witnessed by multiple saints and beatified individuals. (OSV News photo/Katie Peterson, Tennessee Register)