Students at a Leamington Catholic school will observe a moment of history on Monday.
The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) will hold a celebration with the students and staff of Cardinal Carter Middle and Secondary Schools, commemorating the canonization of a British-Italian teenager.
Blessed Carlo Acutis will be one of two people declared a saint by Pope Leo XIV in a ceremony on Sunday at the Vatican.
Acutis died of leukemia in Monza, Italy, on October 12, 2006, at age 15, but not before he used his love of gaming and his proficiency in computer programming to teach about miracles and draw young people to the Catholic faith.
Born and baptized in London, England in 2001, Acutis moved with his family to Italy as an infant and was cared for by an Irish nanny.
When he was 12, Acutis demonstrated a desire to practice Catholicism devoutly. He was soon approached by a parish priest to create a website for the church. Acutis then spent two years perfecting a website discussing Eucharistic miracles throughout the world, and listing approved Marian apparitions, which are reported supernatural sightings of the Virgin Mary.
Acutis became ill in the fall of 2006. When he died, his body lay in repose for four days, and hundreds attended his funeral. His body, encased in wax to resemble his final appearance in life, and clad in a sports sweater, jeans, and sneakers, is entombed at a church in Assisi.
Monday's celebration at Cardinal Carter will include a benediction in the school's chapel, followed by a procession through the campus with students and staff lining the hallways.