An unexpected and emotionally charged moment marked this Monday the celebration of the first anniversary of the canonization of Saint Carlo Acutis at the Parish of Duas Igrejas, in Vila Verde. Just before the start of the recitation of the Rosary, a ray of sun entered the church and shone directly on the reliquary that holds a Sacred Relic of the young Italian saint.
Carlo Acutis was canonized by Pope Francis on October 27, 2024, becoming the first millennial to be elevated to the altars by the Catholic Church. The young man, born in 1991 in Milan, died in 2006 at age 15 due to acute myeloid leukemia.
The relic displayed in the church of Duas Igrejas is a fragment of the sheet that covered Acutis's body during his exhumation, which took place in 2019. This sacred object was given to the parish and has been the object of devotion by the faithful.
The episode of the sun ray illuminating the reliquary was interpreted by those present as a sign of the presence of Saint Carlo Acutis, reinforcing the spiritual significance of the celebration of the first anniversary of his canonization in that parish community.
