When people talk about Blessed Carlo Acutis today, it’s often with headlines about sneakers and memes about a modern saint who played video games and built websites. But those who truly knew him, like his mother, his teacher, and even his doctor, remember something deeper.

In the documentary The Boy From Milan, we meet the real Carlo: not just a tech-savvy teen, but a boy whose holiness radiated through love, humility, and trust in God. His life invites us to believe that sainthood isn’t just for mystics or martyrs — it’s for ordinary people living ordinary lives with extraordinary love.

Here are five ways those who knew Carlo personally described him in the documentary, and ideas for how you can live out those same virtues in your own pursuit of holiness.

5 Ways the People Who Knew Blessed Carlo Acutis Described Him

1. He Loved with Intentional, Personal Charity

“The most important thing about Carlo was charity—love for God and love for the souls. He organized himself like a charitas—a domestic charitas. There is in the big town especially an indifference to what’s around. Carlo, instead, was able to understand the capacity of the person he had in front of him. For Carlo, each person was a ‘world,’ was special.”
—Antonia Salzano Acutis, Carlo’s mother

Carlo didn’t treat people as projects or problems to be solved. He didn’t hurry past them on the street but stopped to care for them. He saw all people as souls who were unique, unrepeatable, worthy of love. His “domestic charitas,” as his mother puts it, wasn’t an organization, but a way of life: loving each person with the attention and dignity they deserved, and doing what he could to meet their needs.

Live it out: Ask yourself: have I overlooked anyone lately? Choose one person this week to really see: to listen to, pray for, or serve in a concrete way. Like Carlo, practice treating every person as a “world.”

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2. He Let Jesus Transform His Heart

“He had an ordinary life like most everybody but he opened the door of his heart to Jesus. And his ordinary life became extraordinary.”
—Antonia Salzano Acutis, Carlo’s mother

There was nothing flashy about Carlo’s life. He went to school, played sports, loved animals, and built websites. Everything that Carlo did externally in a remarkable way started with internal transformation by who he let into his heart: Jesus. Not Carlo alone, but Jesus, made every corner of his life holy.

Live it out: What’s one part of your daily routine, like commuting, cooking, or studying, that you can offer to God? Invite Jesus into your ordinary this week, and let him make it extraordinary.

3. He Practiced Faith in the Everyday Moments

“Carlo was in love with life, with his life and what he did. […] Everyday life was his field where he practiced putting Jesus’ teaching into action.”
—Fabrizio Zaggia, Carlo’s teacher

For Carlo, holiness wasn’t something reserved only for Sunday Mass or religion class. His extracurriculars, friendships, and chores became his training ground for virtue. He believed in practicing the Gospel in many different aspects of his life.

Live it out: At the end of your day, pause and ask: where did I have a chance to live my faith today? What would it look like to “practice putting Jesus’ teaching into action” in tomorrow’s routine?

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4. He Chose Humility, Even in Small Ways

“Even if it was the last desk where kids usually sit to hide from the teacher’s challenges, I think Carlo chose it, not so much to avoid the teachers, but because… ‘the last shall be first.’”
—Fabrizio Zaggia

According to Carlo’s teacher, the boy from Milan’s choice to sit in the back of the classroom wasn’t about laziness, it was about humility. He lived the words of Jesus and didn’t seek recognition or approval. He didn’t need to be seen because he knew he was loved.

Live it out: How can you choose the humble path today? Perhaps you can serve someone without them knowing. Or let someone else go first in line. And when you’re tempted to seek validation, remind yourself of Carlo’s quiet confidence in God’s love.

5. He Radiated Peace, Even in Suffering

“Despite being a teenager who was probably understanding everything that was happening, and surely not feeling very well because leukemia causes a lot of discomfort [with symptoms] that were probably distressing to him, what I remember about that boy was the serenity he had, the peace he radiated, the tranquility that, even though things weren’t going well and the tests were getting worse. He maintained that serenity—which I think passed onto us [doctors]. All of us who were there felt that strength— strength which I believe, I’m sure only God can give you in those difficult moments.”
—Dr. Mercedes Arguello, Carlo’s pediatric oncologist

Even as he faced a painful and terminal illness, Carlo’s peace was unshaken. He didn’t deny his suffering, but he entrusted it to God. And that peace wasn’t just for himself. It was so strong that it became a gift to everyone around him.

Live it out:

Where in your life do you need that kind of peace? Bring it honestly to prayer. Ask St. Carlo to intercede for you, asking for the strength to face difficulty with serenity and trust.

The Boy From Milan shows us the real Carlo Acutis: not just a computer genius or a future saint to be hashtagged, but a boy who really, deeply loved. A boy whose simple “yes” to Jesus in daily life became a light to the world.

More Reflection Questions:

• Where is God inviting me to love more intentionally today?
  
• What part of my daily life could become more holy with Jesus at the center?
  
• Who in my life needs to receive peace through me?
  

Want to go deeper? Watch The Boy From Milan today and discover how an ordinary teenager became a modern example of saintliness for the whole world. Holiness is closer than you think.

This article was written by Emily Mae Mentock. She is an award-winning digital strategist, creative director, and producer passionate about evangelizing through Catholic media. As a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, she leads various digital evangelization projects, including serving as creative director of Real+True and executive producer of The Violinist: Stories of Solanus Casey, a documentary from Formed’s Based on a True Saint series.