Hope in the Holy Communion

“If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man”— St. John Vianney

This weekend we went to the Cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens to see an exhibition of the Eucharistic Miracles around the world. As amazing as the exhibition was, what impacted me the most was the young boy that put it together.

Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, to Italian parents who moved the family to Milan when he was 3 months old. It was there that Carlo grew up, attending local schools and then a Jesuit high school. From a young age, Carlo seemed to have a special love for God and Our Lady, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. Carlo made the effort to recite the Rosary daily and, after his first Communion at age 7, also strove to receive the Eucharist daily and to attend confession weekly. 

Carlo was exceptionally compassionate and mature even as a child, but he also led a very normal life: he went to school, he played sports, and he played video games. One of his most significant computer ventures was cataloguing all the Eucharistic miracles of the world. He started the project when he was 11 years old and wrote at the time, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of Heaven.” Carlo researched over 136 Eucharistic miracles that occurred over the centuries in different countries around the world, and have been acknowledged by the Church, and collected them into a virtual museum. Besides creating a website to house this virtual museum, he helped create panel presentations that have traveled around the world.

As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia. He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying “"I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” He died on Oct. 12, 2006 at the age of 15. He was buried in Assisi, at his request, because of his love for St. Francis of Assisi. His cause for canonization began in 2013. He was designated “Venerable” in 2018, and was designated “Blessed” October 10, 2020 by Pope Francis. His heart, which can now be considered a relic, is displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. 

I was fascinated by his story and his love of the Eucharist. Carlo teaches us that anyone can achieve holiness, no matter their age or their state in life, as long as their love for God is at the center of their lives. This young boy certainly came with a mission, which was to spread the truth about Holy Communion, which is that when the host is consecrated, it becomes the true body and blood of Christ. I knew of some Eucharistic miracles, but I did not know there had been so many. As I walked around the exhibition, I was captivated by the realization that we can place our hope in the Holy Communion. I had just received some bad news, and I had just finished praying a rosary, but as I watched the video about the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis, and I read the different panels that talked about all these Eucharistic miracles, I realized what an amazing treasure Christ left us in the Eucharist. As Carlo told his mother once, people stand in line for hours to see a famous football player or a movie star, and yet, the tabernacles around the world are alone because people do not know of the real presence of Christ within them.

We spent two hours at the exhibition, reading as many stories as we possibly could. One of my favorite took place in 1348 in a small town near Valencia, Spain. A priest on his way to take Holy Communion to some sick people, slipped in a river and lost the ciborium which contained the consecrated Hosts. Some stunned fishermen witnessed several fish with discs in their mouth which appeared to be Hosts. The priest ran to the church, returned with another ciborium, and saw with astonishment the fish deposit the Hosts in the chalice. A group of men and women witnessed the scene, and there are numerous documents testifying to the miracle.  Here’s a photo of the panels depicting the story:

As we were leaving the exhibition, one of the attendants told us to pray to Blessed Carlo Acutis for his intercession. “He answers right away,” she said. We attended mass in the cathedral, and I followed her advice. I prayed to Carlo Acutis for his intercession. When I received Holy Communion, I placed all my hope that the bad news we had received on our way there, would be resolved through Carlo’s intercession and the help of our Blessed Mother. As I received the Body of Christ, I was filled with such peace, that all my worries disappeared. By placing my hope in the Holy Communion, I knew that Christ was in charge and that I had nothing to worry about.

As Lent starts this week, I’m going to attempt to go to daily mass more often, and pay a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a few times. 

Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us and all our intentions. 

Copyright © 2022 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.

If you want to learn more about Blessed Carlo Acutis and the Eucharistic miracles, here’s the link to his website:

http://www.carloacutis.com/en/association/mostra-miracoli-eucaristici