The Consecration of Carlo Acutis

Bl. Carlo Acutis was a British-born Italian Millennial who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of fifteen. Despite his parents’ secularism, Carlo developed from a young age a keen love for God and was known for his transparent goodwill, unassuming piety, and zeal for souls. He was especially devoted to the Eucharist and famously compiled an on-line catalog of Eucharistic miracles. Carlo was beatified on October 10, 2020, and is scheduled to be canonized on April 27, 2025.

One pivotal moment in Carlo’s spiritual development occurred when he was eight years old. During a procession at church, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to him, offered him her heart, and placed it in his breast, instructing him to consecrate himself to her Immaculate Heart and to her Son's Sacred Heart.

In 2025, George and Polly were commissioned to create a depiction of this extraordinary encounter. In their rendition, the saintly child gestures to accept the Virgin's offer, while cherubs descending from the celestial register bear symbols of the spiritual fruits of his consecration.

Nearly all previous artistic portrayals of Acutis show him in turn-of-the-millennium teenage attire, such as a polo shirt or hoodie, in order to emphasizes his relatability to today’s youth. Now that he is to be canonized, however, this approach undermines the idealization appropriate for depictions of saints in glory. George and Polly, therefore, chose to depict Carlo in the white robe he wore at his First Communion. This less particularized and highly symbolic garment serves to abstract the scene from its earthly setting and to universalize the call to holiness that Carlo represents.