Novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis

The novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis is the nine-day prayer that asks the young Italian layman — the "Angel of Youth," who died at fifteen and whose whole life pointed to the Blessed Sacrament — to obtain for us a grace we earnestly seek, above all the grace of holiness and a burning love for Jesus in the Eucharist. It is prayed most often in the nine days from 3 October to 11 October, ending on the eve of his feast on 12 October, the day he died in 2006. Below we give the complete authentic novena as approved for his cause — the opening prayer said each day, all nine daily meditations drawn from his own words, and the closing prayer — together with his story and the answers to what people most ask.

A note on this devotion

Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 and died in 2006 — this is a devotion of our own time, not of the old books. He was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis and canonized on 7 September 2025 by Pope Leo XIV, so that the prayer written for his cause still calls him "Blessed," while the Church now honours him as St Carlo Acutis. We give the novena in full because it is widely sought, entirely orthodox, and centred on the most traditional devotion of all — adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Those attached to the 1962 books and calendar will find its whole spirit already in the older treasury of Eucharistic devotion: the First Fridays, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Divine Praises said in reparation before the tabernacle. If you are new to this form of prayer, see our guide to what is a novena.

The full novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis

The novena keeps a simple shape. Each day you begin with the same opening prayer, name the grace you seek, then read that day's short meditation — each taken from a saying of Carlo himself — and pray its petition. You then pray five each of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be in thanksgiving for the graces given him in his fifteen years, and finish with the closing prayer. Make the Sign of the Cross to begin and end.

The opening prayer (said every day)

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I thank you for all the grace and favours with which you enriched the soul of Blessed Carlo Acutis during his fifteen years on this earth. Through the merits of this Angel of Youth, grant me the grace which I earnestly seek. (Here name the grace you desire.)

Day 1 — "Not me, but God"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who made your life a continual renunciation and setting aside of unimportant things, give me the grace to seek heavenly things and despise that which is transient. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be to give thanks to God for the graces granted Carlo during his life.

Day 2 — "Always to be united with Jesus, that is my life's programme"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who have lived in the heart of Jesus, give me the grace to apply Jesus' plan of love to everything. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 3 — "Continuously ask your Guardian Angel for help; your Guardian Angel has to become your best friend"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who saw the company of the Holy Angels while you were already in this world, give me the grace to live righteously, as my Guardian Angel desires. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 4 — "Our soul is like a hot-air balloon. If by chance there is a mortal sin, the soul falls to the ground. Confession is like the fire underneath the balloon, enabling the soul to rise again. It is important to go to confession often."

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who have lived this sacrament of reconciliation so well, give me the grace constantly to seek confession and the grace of deep contrition. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 5 — "Sadness is looking at ourselves; happiness is looking towards God"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who have never looked away from your great love, Jesus, give me the grace also to live with this happiness in this world. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 6 — "The only thing we have to ask God for in prayer is the desire to be holy"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who have always asked God for what is essential, give me the grace of a deep desire for Heaven. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 7 — "The Virgin Mary is the only woman in my life"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who loved the Virgin Mary above all women, give me the grace to respond to her kind and good love. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 8 — "The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, you who have always looked for your hidden Jesus in the Tabernacle, give me the grace of a deep fervour for the Eucharist. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

Day 9 — "I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things which do not please God"

Blessed Carlo Acutis, give me that grace of graces — perseverance to the end and a saintly death. Amen.

Pray five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys, and five Glory Be.

The closing prayer (said after the meditation each day)

The prayer of his cause reads:

Almighty God, Father of Mercy, raise Blessed Carlo Acutis to the glory of the altars, so that through him You will be even more glorified. Give us the honour of calling him "Saint," for he lived Your Will in all things. And through his merit, give me the grace that I so ardently desire. Amen.

Now that he has in fact been raised to the altars, many simply close instead with a short prayer of intercession: St Carlo Acutis, who loved the Eucharist above all things, pray for us, and obtain for me the grace I ask, if it be for the good of my soul. Amen.

Variants of the novena

The novena for a specific intention

Every line of the opening prayer leaves room to name the grace you seek, so the novena serves any right intention — a healing, an examination, a conversion, a family reconciliation, work, or a hidden sorrow. Name it plainly at the opening prayer and again at the close, and pray it through the nine days. Carlo is especially sought by the young, by students facing examinations (see the patron saint of students), by the sick, and by parents praying for children who have drifted from the Faith.

A short novena to Carlo Acutis

If you cannot pray the full form, the shortest faithful version keeps only the essentials: the opening prayer, that day's one-line petition, and a single Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be in place of the fivefold set. The nine themes still carry you through his life day by day, from renunciation on Day 1 to a holy death on Day 9.

The novena for the sick and for healing

Carlo Acutis was canonized on the strength of two miraculous healings obtained through his intercession — a Brazilian child healed of a grave pancreatic defect, and a young woman of Costa Rica healed after a severe head injury. It is therefore fitting to bring him the sick. Pray the full novena naming the person and their need, and, where you can, join it to Holy Communion offered for them, for Carlo drew all his strength from the same Sacrament.

Is there a PDF of the Carlo Acutis novena?

The full text above is the complete official novena — the same opening prayer, the nine daily meditations, and the closing prayer that circulate in printed sheets and PDFs. You can copy it to keep beside you for the nine days, or pray it from the Iter Fidei app, which carries it with day-by-day reminders so nothing is missed.

How to pray this novena

A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer for one intention. To keep it toward his feast, begin on 3 October and pray each day through 11 October, so the ninth day falls on the eve of his feast on 12 October; but the novena may be prayed at any time of year for any need. Pray at a fixed hour each day, name your intention at the opening prayer and again at the close, and read the day's meditation slowly — each is a window into how Carlo actually lived. Where you can, join the novena to Mass, Holy Communion, or a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, which was the whole heart of his own devotion. And ask in submission: a novena does not compel God, but sets our need in the hands of a friend of Christ, content to receive the grace we named or the better thing God chooses to send.

Who is St Carlo Acutis?

Carlo Acutis was born in London on 3 May 1991 to Italian parents and raised in Milan. From childhood he showed an extraordinary love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, receiving his First Holy Communion early, at the age of seven, and thereafter attending daily Mass and making frequent visits to the tabernacle — the Eucharist, he said, was his "highway to Heaven." (For the grace of that first meeting with Our Lord, see First Holy Communion.) He had a tender devotion to Our Lady, praying the Rosary daily, and a deep trust in his Guardian Angel, whom he called on the young to make their best friend — the same confidence taught in the Guardian Angel Prayer.

A gifted and ordinary boy in equal measure — he loved computers, football, and his friends — Carlo taught himself programming and used that skill for God, building a website that catalogued the Church's approved Eucharistic miracles from around the world, so that others might come to believe in the Real Presence. He was known for his cheerfulness, his defence of schoolmates who were bullied, and his care for the poor of Milan, whom he fed and clothed from his own pocket. "Not me, but God" was the rule of his short life.

In October 2006 he fell suddenly ill with acute leukaemia. He offered his sufferings for the Pope and for the Church, and said he was happy to die because he had not wasted a minute on what does not please God. He died on 12 October 2006, aged fifteen, and at his own wish was buried in Assisi, the city of St Francis, where his body rests and is venerated at the Sanctuary of the Renunciation. He was beatified on 10 October 2020 and canonized on 7 September 2025 by Pope Leo XIV — the first saint of the millennial generation. Popularly called the patron of the internet and of young people, he stands as a witness that holiness is possible for the young, and that the surest road to it runs, as it always has, through the Blessed Sacrament — the same road walked by every saint who loved the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His feast is kept on 12 October.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Blessed Carlo Acutis?

Carlo Acutis (1991–2006) was an Italian teenager, born in London and raised in Milan, known for his intense love of the Eucharist and his cheerful, ordinary holiness. He used his gift for computers to build a website documenting the Church's Eucharistic miracles. He died of leukaemia at fifteen, offering his sufferings for the Church, and is buried in Assisi.

Is Carlo Acutis a saint or a blessed?

Both titles are correct at different dates. He was beatified in 2020, which is why the novena written for his cause calls him "Blessed Carlo Acutis." He was canonized on 7 September 2025 by Pope Leo XIV, so the Church now honours him as St Carlo Acutis — the first canonized saint of the millennial generation.

When is Carlo Acutis's feast day?

His feast day is 12 October, the anniversary of his death in 2006. The novena is commonly prayed in the nine days from 3 to 11 October so that it ends on the eve of the feast, though it may be prayed at any time.

What is St Carlo Acutis the patron saint of?

He is popularly invoked as the patron of the internet, of computer programmers, and of young people and students, on account of his gifts and his youth. Above all he is a patron of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, since the whole of his short life was ordered to the Eucharist, which he called his "highway to Heaven."

What do you pray the Carlo Acutis novena for?

For any right intention — but most fittingly for the grace of holiness, a deeper love of the Eucharist, perseverance in the Faith, and the conversion of the young. Because his canonization rested on two miraculous healings, he is also much invoked for the sick. Name your own intention at the opening prayer and again at the close each day.

When should I start the novena?

To end on the eve of his feast, begin on 3 October and pray through 11 October. Otherwise, count back nine days from any date on which you wish to finish, or simply begin whenever a need presses — a novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, and Our Lord's friends may be asked at any season. For more on the origin and meaning of the practice, see what is a novena.

Is there a traditional equivalent for those who keep the 1962 calendar?

The devotion to Carlo Acutis is modern, but its heart — adoration and reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament — is as old as the Church. Souls attached to the traditional books will find the same spirit in the First Fridays to the Sacred Heart, the Divine Praises, and a novena to the Sacred Heart — the very devotions that formed Carlo himself.

The Iter Fidei app carries the novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis, with the nine daily meditations, day-by-day reminders, and audio, so it can be prayed from your phone. Download it here.

Sources. The official novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis as approved for his cause of canonization (the Association of the Friends of Carlo Acutis), including the opening prayer, the nine daily meditations drawn from his own words, and the closing prayer; the beatification of Carlo Acutis by Pope Francis (Assisi, 10 October 2020) and his canonization by Pope Leo XIV (Rome, 7 September 2025); the traditional Eucharistic devotions of the Church — the First Fridays of reparation to the Sacred Heart and the Divine Praises — as carried in traditional prayer-books.