Today we're doubling up because there's too much holy goodness to leave out either of these young beati.
Both Bl Chiara Badano and Bl Carlo Acutis were Italian teenagers when they died, she in 1990 and he in 2006. Think of that for a moment—had this girl and this boy lived, Chiara would be 50 years old this year and Carlo would be 33. They would be working and living like any of us. Would Chiara be writing books or speaking at conferences? Would Carlo be making reels about Eucharist miracles on Instagram?
Whatever could have been may be a fascinating question, but the most important thing either could have offered in a hundred lifetimes is what they actually did: their unique and unrepeatable sanctity.
Chiara Badano was born in 1971, the long-awaited child of a truck driver father and homemaker mother. She lived a normal teenage life, playing tennis, dancing with friends, listening to pop music, attending high school functions. Like many other teens, Chiara struggled academically. She was raised as Catholic and participated actively in a youth group from age 9, but at 16 she had a deep personal conversion on a youth retreat to Rome. Chiara wrote: "I discovered that Jesus forsaken is the key to unity with God, and I want to choose him as my only spouse. I want to be ready to welcome him when he comes. To prefer him above all else."
Shortly after this retreat, she began experiencing shoulder pain during tennis matches. The diagnosis would ultimately be rare, painful, and terminal bone cancer. Through her illness, Chiara shined with bright joy and hope, even as she suffered excruciating pain. She used her suffering intentionally to encourage others and unite herself to Jesus: "It's for you, Jesus; if you want it, I want it, too." Though so young, she understood death as only temporary. Chiara planned her own funeral, which she called "my wedding," and she was buried in a white "wedding dress" as she had asked. Her parents later found cards that Chiara had written to them in advance of her death in order to console them as they grieved her loss.
For her radiant hope, Chiara gained the nickname "Chiara Luce." Before she died, she told her mother: "Oh, Mama, young people…young people…they are the future. You see, I can't run anymore, but how I would like to pass on to them the torch, like in the Olympics! Young people have only one life and it's worthwhile to spend it well."
Her feast is October 29.
About a year after Chiara died, Carlo Acutis was born in 1991, also to an Italian family who lived in many cities around the world as he grew up. His family, though culturally Catholic, did not practice any faith. Yet Carlo had a natural piety and asked relentless questions about Jesus and faith. He asked to pray. He asked to make his First Communion. He asked to be taken to Sunday Mass. Through his example, his parents returned to their own practice of faith.
As he grew, Carlo lived out his love for God in natural, ordinary ways. He volunteered as a catechist helper at his parish. He had a keen interest in and knack for computers, and often helped others with technical needs. At 14, Carlo built a parish website upon the request of his pastor; later, he built another website upon the request of his high school chaplain.
But Carlo's true passion was evangelizing his peers. To this end, he decided to promote his deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist with yet another website. He began meticulously cataloguing Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions from around the world. Carlo's website became a bigger and bigger project that drew his whole family into the work and, through it, to deeper conversion.
As he neared the completion of his website after two years of work building it, Carlo became sick. Like Chiara, Carlo would also be diagnosed with a rare, painful, terminal cancer—in his case, leukemia. His decline was extremely rapid; less two weeks after falling ill, Carlo died in the intensive care unit. Through his suffering, he also prioritized his own parents' wellbeing and emotions. His last words to his mother were, "Mom, don't be afraid. Since Jesus became a man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don't need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life."
Carlo's website had debuted on the Feast of St Francis just days before his death; Carlo asked to be buried in Assisi, and so he was. His family was shocked to see crowds of strangers show up for his funeral, including many young people who had returned to the Faith through Carlo's example. His heart to see his own peers live in their God-given dignity became his legacy: "Many people are born as originals, but die as photocopies." You can see Carlo's website for yourself here.
His feast is October 12.
Books about Chiara and Carlo
"In My Staying is Your Going": The Life and Thoughts of Chiara Luce Badano (written by her friends and youth group associates)
My Son Carlo: Through the Eyes of His Mother (written by his mother, Antonia)
Dare to Be More: The Witness of Blessed Carlo Acutis (this one is aimed at younger readers)
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