Pope LEO XIV presided over his first canonization Mass

Pope Leo XIV presided over his first canonization Mass on September 7 when he declared two young Italians as saints. Although Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis lived a century apart, they were young men of deep faith and endless charity. Both died young, Frassati at age 24 in 1925 of polio, and Acutis at age 15 in 2006 of leukemia. Both have two miracles attributed to each of them.

Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati

“Global patron of students”

April 6, 1901 - July 4, 1925

Pier Giorgio Frassati is almost as well known in the United States as he is in Italy, where people of all ages admire him for his wholesome and religious way of life. Many regard him as the patron of students. The U.S. bishops have called him "a significant global patron for youth and young adults."

Frassati, frequently pictured in mountain-climbing attire, was a mountaineer and outdoor aficionado. But, he is best known for his devotion to the Eucharist.

Throughout his childhood, Frassati’s charitable acts included giving his bus money to the poor and walking the distance home. When a mother came to his door with her barefoot son, Frassati removed his own shoes and gave them to the boy. At 17, Frassati joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society to take care of the poor, homeless, sick and the demobilized servicemen when they returned from World War I. Frassati was well-known for giving literally everything he had to the poor.

After opposing the rise of fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Frassati was imprisoned in Rome for joining the Catholic Student Foundation and the Popular Party, whose principles followed Catholic social doctrine. His remains are entombed in Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in his hometown of Turin.

Saint Carlo Acutis

“The first millennial Catholic saint”

May 3, 1991 - October 12, 2006"

Carlo Acutis, like Pier Giorgio Frassati, was a model of holiness throughout his childhood and youth.

As a child, he loved to pray the rosary and attend Mass. Acutis' love for the Eucharist inspired his mother to a deepened faith life. Promoters for his sainthood observed that it was not his parents who brought "the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed … to convince others to receive communion daily.” Acutis inspired many others to conversion, including his relatives, the Hindu family au pair, a homeless man at the church entrance, and others. Acutis was known for standing up for school children, who were being bullied, especially children with disabilities. He included a friend in the Acutis family gatherings when the friend’s parents divorced. He helped at the church soup kitchen and tutored children with their homework.

As a millennial, Acutis was drawn to computer coding and taught himself basic coding languages. He loved video games, but he preached to his gaming friends that it is important to limit time spent on playing games (no more than two hours per week) to make time for attending Mass and confession.

When Acutis died in 2006 at age 15, he was placed in a glass tomb in Assisi, where he can be seen wearing jeans, a hoodie and a pair of sneakers. Thousands, especially young people, visit his tomb to view and to pray for him.