Erin Kirk loves using her smartphone.

As a 21-year-old recent graduate of Duquesne University, Kirk works as a religion teacher at Padua Academy in Wilmington, Delaware.

“I am on my smartphone a lot,” said Kirk. “And I am always trying to find ways to grow in my faith.”

Unlike most people her age, Kirk isn’t exclusively texting friends or watching videos.

Often, she is learning about the Eucharist, thanks to the research of a saint who was just a teenager when he put together an exhibit chronicling Eucharistic miracles worldwide.

Resources compiled by St. Carlo Acutis on his website, “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” can now be accessed in the palm of one’s hand — through the “Saint Carlo Acutis: Eucharistic Miracles of the World” mobile app, which debuted in February.

Kirk is not alone.

Caitlin Daley, a 22-year-old from Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, was one of the first people in the U.S. to download the app.

“I feel so blessed that I was one of the first to see it. I still remember when I saw it on my phone the first time. I love exploring it. I feel like it makes Eucharistic miracles more accessible to people,” said Daley.

She appreciates the different features of the app.

“I love the daily quote of St. Carlo Acutis and the ‘Miracle of the Day,’” said Daley. “Because so many young people are already using their smartphones for social media, I think that this app can bring lots of young people back to the Church.”

The reception of the app is edifying for Mary Bea Damico, who spearheaded the team that developed the app in collaboration with Antonia Acutis, St. Carlo’s mother.

“We felt called to bring Eucharistic miracles to high tech,” said Damico, who also serves as executive director of the St. Carlo Acutis Shrine and Center for Eucharistic Adoration at Malvern Retreat House in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Founded 114 years ago, Malvern is the oldest and largest Catholic retreat house in the U.S., and it houses the country’s only permanent exhibit of the Eucharistic miracles that were documented by the saint. The shrine also has a first-class relic of St. Carlo Acutis that is exhibited to visiting groups.

“We believe that St. Carlo would have done this if he were alive today. He would have done it five years ago!” said Damico.

Knowing how wedded most people are to their smartphones, the hope is that the new app will make a major impact, especially on young people.

“Kids have their smartphones. That won’t go away anytime soon, so we are going to use this technology for the good,” said Damico. “We have brought the knowledge about Eucharistic miracles to the mobile domain.” 

Grace Meisenhelter, a 20-year-old junior at The Catholic University of America, loves that this app helps the user grow in knowledge of the Eucharist and Eucharistic miracles.

“Even though I went to Catholic school my whole life, there is always so much more to know. I think it is so awesome!” said Meisenhelter. “I do use my smartphone a lot, so this is something good to reach for. When you get the urge for instant gratification on the phone, I’m glad to know that an app like this exists. You might as well click on something that helps you grow.”

How the App Works

The app has several features that users can explore: stories of Eucharistic miracles from the website created by St. Carlo Acutis, a timeline of his life called “Live Like Carlo,” a dedicated space for online Eucharistic adoration from chapels around the world, and an interactive map where users can find the locations of Eucharistic miracles in different countries. The app has been translated into six languages.

“You can even search these Eucharistic miracles by category, such as ‘doubting priest’ or ‘natural disaster,’” said Damico, referring to elements in the stories connected to these miracles.

The app allows users to find a Eucharistic miracle and then provides links to resources for planning a pilgrimage to the site. In addition, every Eucharistic miracle on the app has links to Old and New Testament biblical verses that reinforce the message of the miracle.

“The timeline of St. Carlo’s life had direct input from Antonia Acutis,” said Damico.

“This app is all about sharing Jesus’ love and making the world aware that the Eucharist is the living Heart of Jesus, in the deepest sense of the word ‘heart,’” she said.

Since launching the app, it has been downloaded in 132 countries with more than 13,000 downloads.

“I found out about the app through my uncle and downloaded it very quickly afterwards. I think it is wonderful,” said Christopher De Maio, a 19-year-old freshman at Franciscan University of Steubenville. “I love that St. Carlo was a young person who was so in love with Christ. I find this so inspirational. And I love that the app is centered on the Eucharist. It’s just phenomenal.”

Meeting a Need

The idea for the app came to Damico in April 2025, when she went to Rome for the canonization of St. Carlo Acutis, which was canceled due to the death of Pope Francis. It was during that trip that Damico thought to herself how wonderful it would be to be able to locate all the Eucharistic miracles on a map. And then she wondered if she could create an app to do this.

“I spoke to Antonia Acutis in July of 2025 about this idea of a Eucharistic miracles’ app, and she said she wanted to collaborate on it. Once we started to mature the project, she was blown away by it. She has been very involved since the beginning,” said Damico, who has a long background in marketing and technology, including her own marketing company. 

“My team is very comfortable with technology,” she said. “I believe that we have been called to bring the Eucharist to the world of high tech.” 

“Had Carlo been alive, we would have hired him!” she added.

Kara Tabella is a volunteer at the St. Carlo Acutis Shrine who has been involved with the app from the beginning.

She has been inspired by Carlo’s research.

“When we first started to think about creating the shrine to St. Carlo Acutis, I was brought in to look at Eucharistic miracles, which had been studied scientifically. We started out by looking at five miracles. Then we picked 16 more miracles,” said Tabella.

“I was blown away. I kept thinking, ‘How did I not know about these miracles?’ When you read about them, it increases your faith,” added Tabella. “Carlo used to say that if people really understood the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, then churches would be packed. I could see why this became his mission.”

The app brings the shrine to people who will never be able to visit in person.

“We get letters from people who do not have access to perpetual adoration chapels from around the world; like from soldiers in Iraq or people who are bed-bound. At any given moment there are people in the world adoring the Eucharist, and now our app allows people to join them,” said Tabella.

An Instrument of Evangelization

The app is also a tool for the catechesis of youth and adults alike.

“I feel that this app will help people become Eucharistic ministers and share God’s love, especially with these miracles. I think it will be a super-powerful instrument,” said Damico.

Antonia Acutis agrees.

“I am very happy about the app because it is certainly doing a lot of good. The St. Carlo Shrine and Center for Eucharistic Encounter is very beautiful, and it can help many souls,” said Acutis. “This app is very important because besides giving information on Eucharistic miracles, it is useful because people can use their smartphones to see where these places are, in case they want to visit them.”

Acutis believes that St. Carlo has a special mission to young people, particularly in America.

“The first place where Carlo’s exhibit on Eucharistic miracles went to and where it has spread far and wide was the United States. Certainly, Our Lord holds the United States very close to his Heart, especially young Americans, and the faith that is being promoted with this Eucharistic Revival. Therefore, Carlo is an intercessor for the United States,” said Acutis. 

She added that, during Carlo’s life, he always had the United States close to his heart.

“Even when he offered up his sufferings for the Pope and the Church at the end of his life, he was thinking about the United States,” she said.

As for young American Catholics, they can’t seem to get enough of St. Carlo Acutis.

“Here at Franciscan Steubenville, we actually had a party on campus the day of St. Carlo’s canonization. People here just love to talk about him,” said De Maio.

Father Stephen DeLacy is the vicar for youth and young adults in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He runs 10 retreats for young people every year at Malvern, bringing them to the shrine. 

He sees this app as a tool for Eucharistic encounter that is accessible for high-school students.

“This app is the exterior of the shrine. It is in line with the personal charism of St. Carlo Acutis,” said Father DeLacy. “It is a witness to his life. He was a regular guy who created a Eucharistic revival.”

Father DeLacy added that the app “is using the presence of Jesus as a catalyst for encounter.” 

“Young people spend a lot of time on their phones, so we are using the best of technology to bring them to Eucharistic devotion. Through this app, we are showing that the Church is not running away from technology,” he said. “It shows that the Church is relevant.”

Added Kirk, “I have been loving this app. It is a great digital platform from St. Carlo Acutis’ website. I love how it combines education and devotion.”