Novena to Carlo Acutis
Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) was an Italian teenager who taught himself computer programming. During his short life, he built a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles from around the world, earning him the nickname "God's influencer." At fifteen, Carlo was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. He faced his illness with a calm faith, reportedly offering his suffering for the Pope and the Church.
He was beatified in 2020 and canonized in 2025, becoming one of the Church's first millennial saints. This novena asks for Carlo's intercession over nine days, especially for young people navigating faith, screens, and the ordinary business of growing up. He believed technology could be used for good instead of distraction, and that holiness was possible for anyone, not just people in convents.
Pray these nine days for courage, for clarity online, and for a faith like his: practical, joyful, and unafraid. Carlo's mother has said that his insistence on daily Mass and regular confession gradually drew the whole family into a steadier practice of faith, years before his diagnosis ever entered the picture. After his death, an exhibition of his research on Eucharistic miracles began touring parishes and schools around the world.
It introduced his story to millions of young Catholics who never knew him personally. Carlo's tomb in Assisi displays him in his everyday clothes, jeans and sneakers, rather than formal vestments, a detail many young people find strangely relatable.
Day 1: A Day of Trust
Meditation: Carlo said his secret was staying close to Jesus in the Eucharist every day, letting that closeness shape ordinary decisions. Alongside daily Mass, he went to confession every week and prayed the rosary regularly, treating those ordinary habits, not dramatic gestures, as the real engine of his faith. Begin this novena by placing your own day, however ordinary or difficult, in God's hands the way Carlo did. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, teach me to trust like you did. Pray for us.
Day 2: Courage in Illness
Meditation: At fifteen, Carlo faced a fast-moving leukemia diagnosis with a steadiness that surprised the adults around him, offering his suffering for the Pope and for the Church rather than turning inward in fear. Pray today for anyone facing illness, yourself, a friend, a family member, that they might find that same courage. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for all who are sick. Pray for us.
Day 3: Technology Used for Good
Meditation: Carlo taught himself to code as a boy and used that skill to build a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles from around the world, insisting that computers and phones were tools, not idols. He was largely self-taught, working through library books and manuals from around age eleven until teachers and older programmers noticed how naturally the skill came to him. Ask for wisdom in your own use of screens today, that they might build your faith instead of crowding it out. That same instinct, using a skill or an account for something bigger than yourself, is worth asking for today, whatever platform you actually use. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, patron of good use of the internet, pray for us.
Day 4: A Joyful Faith
Meditation: Friends of Carlo remembered a boy who was genuinely fun to be around, funny, kind, good at video games, and completely unembarrassed about going to daily Mass. He limited his own video game playing to about one hour a week, a small, deliberate boundary he set so a hobby he genuinely enjoyed never crowded out time for prayer, family, or homework. Pray today for a faith that looks like his: real, joyful, and easy to be around, not heavy or performative. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, teach me joy in following Christ. Pray for us.
Day 5: Devotion to the Eucharist
Meditation: Carlo called the Eucharist his "highway to heaven" and rarely missed daily Mass, building his life around that closeness to Jesus. Ask today for a deeper hunger for the Eucharist in your own life, whatever that looks like right now. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, draw me closer to Jesus in the Eucharist. Pray for us.
Day 6: Serving the Poor
Meditation: Alongside his schoolwork and his website, Carlo spent time helping at soup kitchens and giving his own belongings to classmates and homeless people he met in Milan. He also quietly helped a homeless friend for years and arranged, before he died, for that support to continue afterward, treating the arrangement as a private matter rather than something to be praised for. Pray today for the people in your life who are overlooked, and ask for the courage to actually help them. It didn't take a formal ministry or a public platform, just attention and a willingness to act on it. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, teach me to notice the poor. Pray for us.
Day 7: Holiness for Every Young Person
Meditation: Carlo is remembered for a line he liked to repeat: that everyone is born an original but many people die as copies. He believed sainthood wasn't reserved for the extraordinary few, but was possible for any teenager willing to say yes to God in small, daily ways. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, help me become who God made me to be. Pray for us.
Day 8: Peace in Suffering
Meditation: In his final days, Carlo reportedly told his family he was ready to offer his suffering, because he had tried not to waste time on things that don't matter to God. Pray today for peace for anyone near the end of a hard road, and for the grace to hold onto what actually matters. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for peace for the suffering. Pray for us.
Day 9: Sainthood and Hope
Meditation: Carlo was beatified in 2020 and canonized in 2025, becoming one of the Church's first millennial saints, proof, for a generation raised on screens, that a normal teenage life can still become an extraordinary one. Close this novena by thanking God for Carlo's witness and asking for the grace to live the way he did. Refrain: Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us, today and always. Amen.
A Closing Prayer to Blessed Carlo Acutis
Blessed Carlo Acutis, you showed a generation that holiness and an ordinary teenage life aren't opposites. Pray for me in whatever I am carrying today, my faith, my health, my future, my ordinary Tuesday. Help me use what I have, however small, for something that matters. Ask Jesus, whom you loved so simply in the Eucharist, to hear this prayer and draw me closer to Him. Amen.
Scripture to pray
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.— 1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV)
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.— John 6:51 (ESV)
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.— Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
Frequently asked questions
Who was Carlo Acutis?
Carlo Acutis (1991–2006) was an Italian teenager known as "God's influencer" for building a website that catalogued Eucharistic miracles from around the world. He died of leukemia at fifteen, was beatified in 2020, and was canonized in 2025 as one of the Catholic Church's first millennial saints.
What is a novena to Carlo Acutis prayed for?
This novena is commonly prayed for young people's faith, for courage during illness, and for wisdom in how technology and the internet are used, all themes drawn directly from Carlo's own life. It can also be prayed for any personal intention, asking for his intercession the way Catholics ask any saint.
Why is Carlo Acutis associated with the internet?
As a teenager, he taught himself web design and built a site cataloguing Eucharistic miracles, using technology deliberately for evangelization rather than distraction. That story is why he's widely, informally associated with using digital tools for good, even though the Church has not issued a single formal patronage title for that theme.
How do you pray a novena?
Choose one intention, then pray the novena's nine days in a row, one day at a time, reading that day's short meditation and refrain. If you miss a day, most Catholics simply pick back up rather than starting over; the nine-day structure is a framework for prayer, not a rule that breaks if interrupted.
Where is Carlo Acutis buried?
Carlo Acutis is buried in a shrine in Assisi, Italy, the hometown of St. Francis, a location he reportedly loved for its association with simple, joyful holiness. His tomb has become a popular pilgrimage site, particularly for young Catholics and school groups.
What miracles are connected to Carlo Acutis's sainthood?
Carlo Acutis's cause for canonization relied on two healings the Vatican investigated and could not explain medically, one connected to his beatification in 2020 and a second connected to his canonization in 2025. In both cases, families prayed for his intercession, and doctors involved in reviewing the recoveries could not account for them through ordinary treatment. The Church's process for verifying a miracle involves medical review boards examining a case for years before it's accepted as one.
What was Carlo Acutis's daily routine like?
By most accounts from his family and friends, Carlo built his days around daily Mass, weekly confession, and a daily rosary, fit around a normal schedule of school, homework, and time with friends. He limited video games to about an hour a week and spent free time coding, helping classmates with tech problems, or quietly assisting people he met who needed it. Friends describe him as easygoing and fun rather than solemn, which is part of why his story resonates with people who assume holiness has to look serious.