The shrine of Saint Carlo Acutis at Malvern Retreat House in Pennsylvania hosted an overnight event Sept. 7 that included Mass and a livestream of the canonization of its patron.
The Saint Carlo Acutis Shrine boasts an in-person version of St. Carlo’s International Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit, which the saint originally compiled online as a teen; a Eucharistic adoration chapel dedicated to praying for the salvation of American youth; and relics of St. Carlo. The shrine also has a traveling Eucharistic exhibit that parishes and schools can host.
Malvern Marketing Director Mike Gillespie told CatholicVote in a Sept. 10 phone call that the Mass was scheduled for 3 a.m. so that it would occur shortly before the 10 a.m. canonization in Rome, which is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The Mass was originally intended to be held outside, but unexpected rain brought the Mass indoors at the last moment. Despite the weather and the late hour, the event drew 320 people.
After Mass, participants watched a livestream of the canonization and had the opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of St. Carlo.
Malvern Retreat House president Michael Norton spoke to CatholicVote about what the canonization meant to the Church.
“This is one of the greatest things that has happened to the Catholic Church, the universal church, at least in my lifetime, and I’m 68 years old,” Norton said. “To have a saint that our youth can relate to — and this is what we hear at Malvern — the kids are thinking, ‘He looks like me!’”
He added that children, parents, and grandparents alike have strong devotions to St. Carlo.
CatholicVote also spoke with Mary Damico, the Executive Director of the shrine, who explained the vision and inspiration behind the shrine. Malvern, she explained, is the oldest and largest lay-owned and operated retreat center in the country.
Damico added that many retreat houses had to close after the COVID-19 pandemic and that she had told Norton that she felt called to pray about why God had spared Malvern.
Damico and Norton invited Father James Blount, SOLT, to pray with them about the future of the retreat center. He reached out to Norton on Feb, 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, in 2022, and told him he wanted to come pray at the retreat center.
“So he had a Mass that night,” Damico stated, “and when he started to pray the Mass in our St. Joseph's Chapel, he said that he saw Blessed Carlo Acutis.”
The priest also saw youths crossing back and forth before the altar, according to Damico.
After Fr. Blount experienced the vision, he prayed with Norton and Damico for hours that night. Damico said she received the inspiration the following day to create a permanent section of St. Carlo’s Eucharistic exhibit on the Malvern retreat center’s property.