Teen Sports, Inspiration

Carlo Acutis was like other boys his age. In his hometown of Milan, Italy, he loved video games, playing soccer, and hanging out with his friends. But unlike most other boys, he also loved going to Mass, and his deep concern for others was felt by everyone around him--including the poor, the brokenhearted, and even stray dogs.

A self-taught computer whiz, Carlo used his tech skills to serve the Church and to share his faith in Christ. He built websites for parishes, and he created an online exhibition to document Eucharistic miracles around the world.

At the age of fifteen, Carlo was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and died a week later on October 12, 2006. In 2018, a miracle was attributed to his intercession, and Pope Francis beatified him in 2020. He has become a shining example of faith, hope, and love, especially to young people.

Discover the Epic Humanity of the Saints

The saints are not myths or legends, they were people just like us who lived lives of -epic virtue.

If the saints have never made you laugh or drop your jaw, they will in this book. Bestselling author Shaun McAfee (Reform Yourself!, Filling Our Father's House) and guest writers illustrate how the saints were not just stone-faced old men. Some of them had quirky habits, outrageous personalities, and did breathtaking deeds...but they all had epic faith.

Their lives were filled with events that push our understanding of charity with intrepid virtue, but at certain points, they lacked common sense and were uproariously funny, too.

Discover the time:

- A young man known for his spiritual perfection almost blew himself to bits with a cannon.
- The saint of the Cristero War became a master of disguises to save Christians and hilariously taunt his persecutors.
- Twin saints conjured dragons and tempests just to preserve vocations of novices.
- The founder of the Oratorians joked about his own death, just moments before he died.
- A famous cardinal rejected guaranteed conclave votes to make him pope.
- A magnificent preacher was-- understandably--accused of being insane.

You'll be filled with faith and laughter as you discover that God truly sends the lowly to do his will on earth, but that over time and with God's graces, the lowly are lifted the highest--even if they are a little wild, weird, and epically wonderful.

In each generation, heroes of the Faith, whom the Church recognizes as saints, emerge. There are many characteristics that they have in common, but none thus far have used cell phones, played PlayStation video games, or searched for information on Google.

That is about to change.

A young "computer geek" named Carlo Acutis, who created a website cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle in the world and died of leukemia a year later at age fifteen, was beatified in November 2019, after a healing miracle in Brazil was attributed to his intercession. Since the beatification ceremony one year later, solemn crowds have been filing past the exposed relics of the blessed youth in Assisi's Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Carlo is a sign of contradiction in the modern world who serves as a heroic model for today's young people--a teenager who programmed computers and enjoyed films and comics yet lived as an authentic and sincere disciple of Christ. In these pages, you'll discover how he embraced the Faith as a boy and developed the virtues necessary to live a Christ-centered life in a secular society, how he overcame the vices that plagued him, and how he gracefully dealt with heartaches he could not divulge even to his parents.

When he developed leukemia, he offered his suffering both for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Catholic Church, saying: "I offer all the suffering I will have to undergo for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church." In this surprising and inspiring book, you'll also learn:

How Carlo became holy, in only a few short years

The young man's unusual loneliness and how he dealt with it

His strategy for resisting peer pressure

How he had fun without losing control and learned to resist gluttony

How he interacted with teen girls who became his friends

Why his explanations about the Mass are used in today's catechism classes in Italy

How he dealt with friends who were sexually promiscuous and what he told them

How he responded to the shocking news that he was dying (which happened two weeks later)

His remarkable Eucharistic Miracles Exhibition--made possible by his computer skills--that is now touring churches all over Europe

Teach your child to walk in faith, act justly, and lead with kindness and humility with this 365-day devotional for kids. A Saint a Day includes fascinating historical stories as it introduces young readers to over 300 saints who did extraordinary things for God.

Mother Teresa left her family at age 18 to become a missionary. St. Patrick helped spread Christianity to Ireland. St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin--and also had a pet lion!

Written for ages 8 to 12, A Saint a Day inspires young readers with remarkable stories of people who made extraordinary choices to love and serve God. Featuring popular saints such as Teresa ofÁvila, Francis of Assisi, Juan Diego, and Thomas Aquinas, each of the 365 devotions includes:

A Scripture verse and prayer

A short summary or inspiring story of a saint

A notable fact

Artwork with a fresh, kid-friendly design

This daily devotional for kids is:

An ideal gift for First Communion, Confirmation, or Advent

A unique book for strengthening a child's faith

A great way to share Catholic Church history with kids

A Saint a Day will help your child realize the long history of people of faith. As you journey through this yearlong devotional, your children will grow in their understanding of Church history and better understand how they can love and serve God.