Special Mass in South Florida to celebrate first Millennial saint. Here’s how to go
More than 1,500 Catholic students visited a Broward church on Friday to celebrate the newest and youngest saint in the history of the Catholic Church.
Known as the “patron saint of the internet,” Saint Carlo Acutis, who passed away at age 15 in 2006, is the first saint from the Millennial generation in the Catholic Church. This weekend, believers in South Florida will also get a chance to see a special relic — a lock of Acutis’ hair — that was brought over from Italy to St. David Catholic Parish in Davie.
St. David celebrated Mass for Catholic students and staff from across the Archdiocese of Miami on Friday, and will open its doors to the public on Saturday for a vigil Mass and short talks to learn more about Acutis’ life. The Italian teenager was known for his kind and charitable heart as well as his ability to use the internet to spread the message of his Catholic faith.
Catholics also will celebrate the first ‘feast day’ of Acutis on Sunday, Oct. 12, the day that Acutis passed away. All saints get their own day of celebration and remembrance, and this year marks the first one for Acutis, who was canonized by Pope Leo XIV earlier this year — the first such ceremony to be performed by the new pope.
Father Ryan Saunders of St. David said that for students, seeing the relic and learning about Acutis’ life is inspiring young Catholics to reconnect or deepen their own faith.
“What Saint Carlo is teaching ... is that anybody can be a saint, and it’s something that we’re called to,” Saunders said.
“This is what I preached to the children at the Mass this morning,” Saunders said. “I started calling some of them out by name and saying, ‘Corey, you can be a saint. And Gina, you can be a saint. And Michelle, you can be a saint ... And it gives them something tangible and someone that’s very relatable to our youth today.”
Acutis was seen as a normal teenager who liked to play video games and soccer with his friends, but at the same time, Saunders said, “he had this great devotion to the Eucharist and ... used his his abilities as a millennial in creating a website to drive people to the Eucharist.”
Acutis research contained of what are known as Eucharistic miracles — defined by the church as extraordinary events involving the Eucharist, or what the church believes is the body and blood of Christ, and the ritual commemorating Jesus’ Last Supper. Acutis chronicled 164 such events from all over the world in his digital database, earning him the nickname “God’s influencer.”
READ MORE: Pope Leo to canonize the first Millennial saint. Here’s how Miami is celebrating
The 15-year-old Italian — born in London to Italian parents and later living in Italy — died of leukemia in 2006, but his impact is still felt by the Catholic community worldwide — including in Miami.
Saunders said celebrating the saint is one way the church can help what he calls a “crisis of faith” among young people.
“People are really thirsting for something ... for guidance and that invitation into deepening their faith ... and that’s what I think Saint Carlo and his canonization is going to do for the church, just as Pope Leo and the excitement around Pope Leo is doing the same thing.”
IF YOU GO
What: Celebration of first Millennial saint.
Where: St. David Catholic Parish. 3900 S. University Drive, Davie, FL.
When: Saturday, open from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., with a vigil mass at 5 p.m.
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 4:17 PM.
