Carlo Acutis stained glass

The church of San Giuseppe in Molfetta, Italy, has already installed the first stained glass window depicting Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old beatified last year on October 10, 2020 by Pope Francis. His image—in jeans and sneakers—clashes with the traditional stained glass windows to which we are accustomed, and shows that holiness is closer to us than we think. The window depicts the 15-year-old Carlo walking in jeans, sneakers, a red windbreaker and a backpack. He smiles, and his expression shows joy and approachability. He is instantly recognizable to those who are familiar with the photos of the young man which have become ubiquitous on Catholic internet. We’ve never seen anything like it: the image of a contemporary adolescent, a blessed who transmitted the Gospel through social networks. The church of San Giuseppe of Molfetta has four side chapels. The church contains images of saints and blesseds who have incarnated the Salesian message, which were commissioned to an Italian artist, Maria Bonaduce. The windows of the chapels on the left represent three saints: St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, and St. John Bosco. The chapels on the right depict three Italian blesseds: Carlo Acutis, Chiara Badano and Pier Giorgo Frassati. In the image Acutis carries a laptop computer, his tool for giving testimony. He is illuminated by the Eucharist that guides him like a sun. This young Italian died in 2006 of acute leukaemia.  During his life, Carlo Acutis was a great fan of video games, and created a website where he promoted Eucharistic miracles. In the midst of today’s mindset that invites us to worry only about ourselves and encourages us to satisfy all our desires, whatever they may be, Acutis says that “happiness is looking towards God and sadness is looking only towards oneself.”