Carlo’s Writings From ‘My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother’

A detail from a poster marking the liturgical memorial of Blessed Carlo Acutis on Oct. 12, 2021
A detail from a poster marking the liturgical memorial of Blessed Carlo Acutis on Oct. 12, 2021 (photo: Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino. / Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino)

On the ‘Anti-Self’

“Meeting the enemy is finding oneself with the anti-self, which is like the other side of the moon when it is not illuminated by the sun. That is to say, within me is a dark place, an unexplored area where there are incredible surprises to be found. In order to make progress, I have to illuminate that part, remove the veils which do not allow me to see, and probe my ‘depths.’ This can be painful. Sooner or later, the anti-me must be confronted in order to find balance and harmony again and in order to re-purify.”

 


On Conversion

“Conversion is ceasing to plummet downward and beginning to climb upward. The further we have fallen, the harder and more strenuous the climb back up. What is important is to turn around. Step by step, day by day, keep going forward without ever stopping. The higher we climb, the more we see things with the right perspective, in their entirety and totality. The higher we climb, the more we enter into the atmosphere which surrounds co-eternity. We breathe the Air of Infinity. Eternal life becomes our habitat.”

 


On the Need for Confession

“In order to rise, a hot air balloon needs to remove weights, just like how the soul needs to remove the little weights of venial sins in order to rise up to heaven. In the case of a mortal sin, the soul falls back to earth and confession is like the fire that makes the hot air balloon rise up again. We need to confess often because the soul is very complex.”

Hamas fires a large number of rockets toward Israel Oct. 7 in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

War-Torn Israel and Blessed Carlo Acutis (Oct. 14)

After the Islamist terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Israel is at war. The U.S. government has condemned Hamas’ attack. Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders throughout the world have condemned terrorism and violence and are calling for prayer and fasting for peace. Long-time Register contributor, Michele Chabin joins us on Register Radio with perspectives from the ground in Israel. Then we turn to the Eucharist, our source of hope, and an Italian teenager who was completely devoted to making our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament known to a world in need. We talk with Register contributor Sabrina Ferrisi about Blessed Carlo Acutis.