Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time

Carlo Acutis was born on May 3, 1991, in London, and soon moved with his Italian family to Milan, where he grew into a bright, generous teenager with an extraordinary love for Jesus in the Eucharist. Though his parents were not practicing at first, Carlo’s simple, insistent faith helped draw his mother back to Mass and prayer. He received First Holy Communion at seven and became known for frequent Communion and Eucharistic Adoration, living with a quiet joy and a tender concern for others. Gifted with computers, Carlo taught himself programming and web design, using his skills to serve his parish and school. He created a widely shared website and exhibition cataloging Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions, offering a modern path to ancient devotion. As a catechist, he encouraged friends and even members of his household to seek baptism. Diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, Carlo offered his suffering to God and died on October 12, 2006, at fifteen. Venerated as a patron of the internet, programmers, and youth, he was canonized in 2025. His feast day is October 12.

Saint Edistus, also remembered as Aristus or Orestes, is honored as a martyr of the early Church, though the details of his birth are not known. Ancient tradition places his witness near Rome on the Via Laurentina, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. According to his legend, Edistus was a soldier who had been baptized by Saint Peter, and he gathered with fellow believers for the Holy Mass celebrated by the priest Priscus. With him were Thermantia, Christina, and his servant Victoria. Discovered by the authorities, Edistus and his companions endured a cruel death for Christ, steadfast in faith even as the world demanded their silence. Devotion to Edistus took root around his burial place along the Via Ardeatina, where a church rose in his honor and his relics were long venerated, especially near San Paolo fuori le Mura. He is especially cherished as the patron of Sant’Oreste, a town near Monte Soratte that bears his name. Saint Edistus is celebrated on October 12.

Saint Seraphin of Montegranaro was born Felix Rapagnano in 1540 at Montegranaro in the March of Fermo, Italy, the son of poor but devout parents. Frail and unsuited to his father’s trade, he worked as a shepherd, welcoming the solitude that gave him time for prayer. After his father’s death he endured humiliations and harsh treatment at home, yet these trials deepened his desire to belong wholly to God. Encouraged by a faithful friend, he sought the Capuchins and in 1556 was received into their novitiate at Jesi, taking the name Seraphin. As a Capuchin lay brother he served simply as porter and questor, most often at Ascoli Piceno, where he became known for tireless charity to the poor and for welcoming travelers even late at night. He loved the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin, spending long hours in adoration and praying for peace for others, especially those who troubled him. Though largely illiterate, he was sought for counsel, and many attributed to him gifts of prophecy and miracles. He died at Ascoli Piceno on October 12, 1604, and is venerated as patron of Montegranaro. His feast day is October 12.