Antonia Salzano is celebrating the news that her son will soon be a saint. The woman who raised Carlo Acutis and took pictures of him playing in the snow, dressed as superheroes, and celebrating birthdays said he was just your average kid.
“He lived a daily life with his classmates, he used to do sports, he used to be a normal young boy,” Salzano said.
However, there was one big exception: Jesus was the center of Acutis’ life.
“Carlo lived this presence of Jesus in everything he used to do,” Salzano said.
She said Acutis started going to Mass every day at seven years old. He took part in Eucharistic adoration, prayed the Rosary, and read the Bible.
He even sparked her conversion.
“Carlo was for me like a little savior, because before I was like a Protestant,” Salzano said. “I thought the sacraments were symbols. Simple symbols. And the Blessed Sacrament was a normal piece of bread, even after the consecration.”
Her child made her a believer, especially after the teenaged computer whiz created a virtual exhibition on Eucharistic miracles, which has led to the conversion of thousands.
At the end of his life, when he was just 15 years old, Salzano said Acutis was not afraid to die.
“He was not scared about death,” Salzano said. “He used to say death is the passage to the true life.”
Even after his death from leukemia, Carlo Acutis continues to evangelize.
Hundreds of thousands viewed his beatification Mass, and with his canonization ahead, Salzano has just one hope.
“I hope Carlo will switch on the faith,” Salzano said.
Another story she told was that after her father died, Acutis, who was not even five years old, told her his grandfather came to him and asked him to pray for him since he was in purgatory.
Salzano said Acutis started praying for the souls in purgatory and never stopped.