February 22, 2024 at 7:00 a.m.
MIRACLES ON DISPLAY
Mary Welyczko approaches the table at Immaculate Conception in Glenville with excitement. She pauses before the stand that holds two golden reliquaries before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a rosary. Gently, she touches the beads to one of the chambers, which houses two first-class and two second-class relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis.
Welyczko, who has been a fan of Blessed Carlo for years, is praying for the health of herself and her family. Fortunately, she knows they’re in good hands: “He’ll take care of us,” she said.
Theresa Johnes of Loudonville, right, and her mother Annette Langley view the relics on display during the International Exhibition, Miracles of the Eucharist Across the World, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville, N.Y. Cindy Schultz for The Evangelist
The life of 15-year-old Blessed Carlo Acutis, who was beatified in October 2020, is also the backbone of the Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles, which was showcased from Feb. 15-20 in the parish hall of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville.
“It’s very moving,” said Marge Rizzo, Immaculate Conception parishioner and volunteer with the exhibit. “It’s just amazing for young people to see someone from their generation, not someone from 500 years ago.”
“I just can’t believe how all these things are here, it’s just beautiful just to be here,” said Barbara Zielinski, Immaculate Conception parishioner. Zielinski planned to set a prayer intention for a friend’s daughter, who had undergone a lung transplant, and for her daughter who gave birth to a baby girl just last week.
“She just came home yesterday,” she smiled. “I was praying to Carlos for her, that everything goes OK.”
Cliff Hebert of Schenectady, who attends Our Lady Queen of Peace, views the International Exhibition, Miracles of the Eucharist Across the World, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville, N.Y. Cindy Schultz for The Evangelist
Acutis, who died in 2006 from leukemia, was a devout Catholic and skilled computer programmer who married his two passions to build a website dedicated to documenting and promoting Eucharistics miracles.
Moreover, he was a normal teenager. Dubbed, the first “millennial saint,” Blessed Carlo was like any other kid growing up in the 2000s. He loved video games and soccer, he played the saxophone and had a weakness for Nutella.
Eileen Wood, who helped bring the exhibit on tour and personally received some of Carlo’s relics from his mother, Antonia, kicked off the opening night with a talk before the 6 p.m. Mass.
“It’s hard to relate to saints,” Wood said, “especially for kids to relate to people who lived in the 13th and 14th century in Europe. But Carlo was so recent. He looked like us, he dressed like us. He had a cellphone! How many saints do you know who had a cellphone?”
Joanne DeNovio, parishioner at St. Edward the Confessor Church, hoped that the modern-day connection would help draw more young people to the exhibit, and to the church.
“My grand-nephew, who’s 9 years old, said, ‘He’s just like me,’” she said. “I just can’t believe he did all this!”
Eileen Wood of Tewksbury, Mass. poses with the International Exhibition, Miracles of the Eucharist Across the World, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville, N.Y. Ms. Wood and her husband Christopher Wood brought the exhibit to the Capital Region. Cindy Schultz for The Evangelist
Before coming to the Albany Diocese, the Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles has traveled around five continents and across churches around the country. Created and designed by Blessed Carlo in 2002, the exhibit hosts an extensive collection of photographs and historical records of modern Eucharistic miracles from around the globe.
It was Wood’s love for the Eucharist that helped bring this tour to life. Wood has led perpetual adoration at St. William of York Parish in Tewksbury, Mass., for 17 years when she first heard of the exhibit.
Wood and her husband have traveled across New England with the exhibit since 2011. Things were slow moving at first, but have started picking up since Carlo’s beatification in 2020.
“Now, it’s pretty much every weekend,” Wood said. “It’s been very busy.”
Blessed Carlo’s cause for sainthood was opened shortly after his death, but it wasn’t until 2009 when a miracle skyrocketed him into the spotlight.
Matheus, a young boy from Brazil, was born with a deformed pancreas and unable to digest any solid foods. Due to his condition, he was weak and consistently sick. One day, the boy visited a second-class relic of Blessed Carlo, praying to help him feel better.
Doctors were baffled to find that Matheus’ pancreas miraculously healed after his visit.
What comes next for Blessed Carlo, and for those hoping to be helped in his name, will continue to unfold as the tour continues.
“He’s just a human kid with jeans and Nike sneakers on,” Rizzo said, referencing a photo of Carlos. “This blows my mind, it’s amazing.”
Comments:
You must login to comment.