On Wednesday 31st May, over 500 people packed into Farm Street Church to listen to Antonia Salzano speak for nearly an hour about her son, Blessed Carlo Acutis, and his legacy.
Antonia had travelled from Italy that day, and will be spending the next few days speaking at various events in the diocese. This evening was a special opportunity hosted by Westminster Youth Ministry for the young people in the diocese.
Antonia began by describing Carlo, saying he ‘was a normal person, but he opened the door of his heart to God, and his ordinary life became extraordinary.’
‘Carlo always wanted to improve … he used to pray a little piece of prayer and read the Bible each day. If you read the Bible each day, you will learn to reason like Jesus.’
Antonia went on to explain that she saw this at work when her father died, as Carlo said to her, ‘Mama, I saw Nonno, who told me he is in purgatory, we must pray to help him to go out of purgatory.’
Carlo’s depth of faith, allowed Antonia to ‘discover my life.’
‘I thought before, that the sacraments were only symbols, I was like a Protestant. I, through Carlo, understood that the sacraments are the most supernatural things we have.’
‘Carlo made me understand and for me it was the most important discover of my life.’
Asked about the ways in which Antonia felt able to cope with the death of her son, which only happened over a period of five days from his hospitalisation, she said, ‘I started my faith path in 1994, so when Carlo died Jesus had already prepared me.
‘When Carlo was in hospital, I heard inside me, I had a strong impression, like the book of Job: God has given, God has taken away, all shall bless the name of God.’
Antonia encouraged those present, that Carlo's example was not something exclusive to him, saying that 'sainthood is not something to be ashamed of! Sainthood is part of our very constitution.'
After she spoke, Bishop Nicholas Hudson led all the people present in Adoration and Benediction. This was followed by an opportunity for the many people present to venerate a relic of Blessed Carlo and to ask his intercession.
Photos: mazur/cbcew.org.uk
