by Katie Vasquez
Khloe Chavez isn’t tired of watching one video she received. It’s not from TikTok or Instagram. It was personally sent to her from the mother of what could be the first millennial saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis.
“Like, I was, like, kind of surprised,” Khloe said.
Khloe first learned about Blessed Carlo at her school, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy.
A relic of the Italian boy who died at 15 from leukemia stopped at the Corona, Queens, school.
When she touched a few pieces of his hair, he touched her heart.
Khloe said, “I admire him because like, he’s young like me, like he, I can relate to him.”
She started learning about the teen, how he brought people around the world closer to Christ by creating a website of all the Eucharistic miracles.
“It was a blessing because the school exposed them to this, this young boy that was always with a boo bag talking about Christ, wearing Nikes the same clothes that we wear,” said Khloe’s father, Johnny Chavez.
Chavez’s family is part of the Neocatechumenal Way, a spiritual movement designed to deepen the faith of its members through ongoing formation.
When a fellow Neocat spotted Carlo’s mother, Antonia Salzano, at a conference in Manhattan, she told her about Khloe and Salzano sent her a special message
In the video, Antonia Salzano, the mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, said, “Khloe, I wanted to say hello to you. I know you love Carlo very much and Carlo loves you very much.”
“A soon-to-be saint like, mother, like, sent me a video,” Khloe said. “Like, that’s crazy to me.”
Not only that, Salzano gave her a tiny piece of the future saint.
“So this is a relic of Carlo Acutis, this is a piece of his sweater,” Khloe said.
Word soon spread around school about the video.
“They were, let me tell you, when I showed them this video, they could see their mouths when the jaw dropped,” said pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, Father Manuel Rodriguez.
Khloe isn’t looking to impress, she’s trying to spread awareness.
“He needs, like, one more miracle, and he could be a saint. Like, that would just touch me a lot,” Khloe said.
Father Rodriguez is trying to get a statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy and to get Salzano to visit so that Khloe can thank her in person.