He had trouble getting pregnant and entrusted to Acutis: “I put my son to thank him.”

Many of the pilgrims who participated last Sunday in the San Carlo Acutis canonization kept the miracle that the young millennial made possible in their lives, even before climbing the altars.

Like Jenna, an Irish woman, who traveled with her mother and sister with the intention of thanking the new saint in sneakers for her intercession. He married in 2018 and had always dreamed of being a mother and feeling the beats of a small heart in his bowels.

However, for years she and her husband faced problems to achieve pregnancy. They even resigned themselves to the idea that they would never be able to wrap in caresses and sweet looks at their newborn.

One day they met Acutis, the cyber and the Eucharist. Without much hope, they approached to pray to the Cathedral of Derry, in the north of the country, where there is a natural statue of Carlo.

A few months later she became pregnant: “From the first moment we knew that we wanted to thank God for this gift in a special way.”

Therefore, they wanted to put their name. The little boy, who is now two years old, is called Jude Carlo, in honor of San Judas Tadeo and the young man who was canonized with Pier Giorgio Frassati.

“We felt that he interceded for us. My mother suggested to call him Carlo, because Carlo interceded for her own mother and she could have twins four years after her death for a leukemia. We feel that Carlo helped us,” he details, Jenna who can’t help getting excited to share her little miracle.

“I certainly feel that I have received a miracle”

For Jenna and her family, being in Rome for her canonization is “another gift from God.” “We are very privileged to be here today. Carlo Acutis is a real saint. I certainly feel that I have received a miracle,” he says.

For Jenna it is very important that Carlo, as she calls her with love as if she were someone of her own family, “is a good example for my son and grows in the Catholic faith.”

That desire was very present in the Plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano, where Pope Leo XIV celebrated the solemn mass. It was enough to travel it last Sunday to realize the great devotion it generates among the San Carlo Acutis families.

As in the family of Yvonne Kutz, who traveled from Germany accompanied by her four children, the oldest of 20, the child’s child radiated the emotion of those who have reached the goal.

“It was very important for us to be here,” he says. “The ceremony was going to be held in April, but then Pope Francis died. We already had the bought tickets, so we also traveled to Rome for the funeral and we were there for a week, waiting for the announcement of the new date for the canonization. As soon as we heard it, we bought the tickets again and here we are, again.”

“Not everyone can go to the mountain to pray or do extraordinary things”

For Yvonne, the figure of Carlo Acutis is much more than a young man with a shirt and shoes. It is first and foremost the lighthouse that illuminates the path of holiness in the midst of everyday life. “San Carlo Acutis for us is an inspiration, because God calls us where we are, in our ordinary life,” he explains.

“Not everyone can go to the mountain to pray or do extraordinary things. God calls us where we are, to be saints. And this is seen in Carlo’s life: a normal, ordinary boy, who lived his ordinary life in an extraordinary way. This gives us hope,” he details.

His discovery of Carlo was progressive. “The first time I heard about him was in the media. I asked me: who is Carlo Acutis? So I looked for information on my own, I read about his life and I saw many videos, especially the testimonies of his mother. I was very impressed by how he helped her return to God and to understand that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.”

A family pilgrimage

In the Gran Vía Della Coniliazione (Vía de la Coniliation) the marriage formed by Ignacio Carmena and Rocío Blanco awaits the beginning of the solemn celebration with two young children, 3 years, 18 years old and of a newborn.

His is a kind of family pilgrimage. The parents of Ignacio and Rocío have also come, who is accompanied by all his brothers and the nephews. In total, twenty people. “We wanted to live this historical moment together,” he says.

For this family, the canonization of San Carlo Acutis and San Pier Giorgio Frassati was a sign of hope. “We wanted our children and the nephews to be reflected in them so that they have a model to follow in this 21st century,” says Ignacio. “Today the models that are proposed in society often lead to disorderly lives and move you away from Jesus Christ. We need authentic models of holiness for young people, which show them that we are all called to holiness,” he says.

“They are referents that not only inspire, but show that holiness is possible for today’s young people,” he says.

The family lives this pilgrimage as a gift for the whole family. “It’s not just a tourist trip,” Ignacio insists. “It is an opportunity for the little ones to begin to grow surrounded by light examples, of young people who put Christ in the center. For us it was important to be here and that our children breathe this party and faith environment,” he adds.

With their six children in canonization

In another of the streets surrounding San Pedro there is another family resident in Spain who has not wanted to miss this great ecclesial event. They have come with their six children.

“It’s surprising, we were very excited, and since we knew we kept our vacations to come to this great event,” explains Angélica, the mother visibly excited. “We have been able to teach that you can be holy, that someone of our time can reach heaven. It is not like in ancient times, but that it is someone who uses Jean, tennis, backpack … Holiness is for everyone and the sky is open for all of us,” he adds.

The family is from Colombia, but has lived in Spain for nine years. In any case, he acknowledged that traveling with six children for an event of this magnitude was not easy. “Obviously it is complicated, heat, the crowd … but the Lord gives grace, it is impressive how God gives grace. By human forces it is impossible,” added the mother.

“Our photo can be there one day like Acutis’s”

One of the most moving moments for her was to think about the mother of the new saint. “It made me cry imagine that she was there, witnessing the canonization of her son. He made me reflect that as parents we have that mission: return the children to God.”

For his part, the father highlighted the emotion they felt when he listened to the Pope to pronounce the canonization formula: “Since we left home we came in prayer, offering heat and thirst. When Pope León makes prayer to canonize him, it was a huge joy,” he said. Another special moment was when one of his children told them: ‘Our photo can be hung there in the Basilica of San Pedro as that of San Carlo Acutis. “

Both replied that “you have to fight for that ‘, because the sky is saved for all.”