An encounter with the holy: Holy Redeemer Parish hosts Blessed Carlo Acutis exhibition on Eucharistic miracles
Monsignor Publius Xuereb, pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in Aledo, leads more than 200 worshippers in a Eucharistic procession on May 30, 2024, prior to the opening of an exhibit on Blessed Carlo Acutis at the parish. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
ALEDO — The most modern of future saints devoted his life to one of the oldest of mysteries: the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian teen, showed an early devotion to the Eucharist, calling it his “highway to heaven.” Born in 1991, the youth spent almost two-and-a-half years researching and making a virtual exhibition of Eucharistic miracles before he died in 2006 at the age of 15 from leukemia.
Pope Francis beatified the youth in 2020 in Assisi, making him the first millennial to be declared blessed. On May 23, 2024, Pope Francis announced a second miracle has been attributed to the teen, opening the path for Acutis’ canonization.
The Eucharistic miracles exhibition created and designed by Blessed Carlo Acutis is on display at Holy Redeemer Parish in Aledo now through June 2, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
The museum-style displays include detailed information on 161 miracles, organized by the 31 countries in which they occurred. One room of the three-room exhibit is dedicated to panels on saints with special devotion to the Eucharist and plays a video about the life of the future saint.
The exhibition has been displayed in thousands of parishes on five continents and about 100 university campuses.
Holy Redeemer opened the exhibit with Mass on Thursday, May 30, followed by a Eucharistic procession and Adoration. A schedule for the free event is available at holyredeemeraledo.org.
The display will close with Adoration and a Mass of Healing on Sunday, June 2 at 5:30 p.m. Three priests will join Monsignor Publius Xuereb, pastor of Holy Redeemer, to offer the Anointing of the Sick.
According to Lauren Walsh, Holy Redeemer’s director of religious education and youth ministry, Msgr. Xuereb expressed an interest in hosting the exhibition about two years ago.
In his homily at the Mass which opened the exhibition, Msgr. Xuereb said Blessed Carlo was present. “The Eucharist unites us with Carlo and the saints from all ages, all locations.”
The exhibition has united the parish, with a special focus on young members, said Walsh, who added that youth groups from four parishes attended the opening.
Parishioners, many of them recently confirmed teens, serve as docents for the galleries.
Elizabeth Storrie, a sixth grader, led the congregation as they prayed the Rosary during the Eucharistic procession and Adoration.
Third-grade student Emily Huwel painted the Body and Blood of Jesus for her public school’s annual art show. The painting, displayed next to a print of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Msgr. Xuereb, welcomes guests to the exhibit. Even preschoolers created a display of Eucharistic art.
Through the example of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Walsh said, we see “we aren’t called by our age to holiness or sainthood. Whether you are Msgr. Publius or Elizabeth Storrie or Emily Huwel, God calls us to sainthood, to holiness, to a deep relationship with Him.”