A devastating blaze has destroyed much of the historic Bernaga Monastery in northern Italy — the very site where Saint Carlo Acutis, the first “millennial saint,” received his First Holy Communion.
According to LifeSiteNews, the fire broke out on the eve of the first official celebration of St. Carlo Acutis’ feast day, October 12. The monastery, located near Milan, had stood for nearly four centuries. While investigators initially considered arson, authorities now believe “a short circuit in one of the monastery’s cells” was the likely cause.
Nuns Escape Unharmed, Priceless History Lost
All twenty-one cloistered nuns living at the monastery escaped safely. Sadly, “many historic documents, artifacts, and relics were irreparably damaged or completely consumed in the blaze,” according to LifeSiteNews.
Firefighters battled the inferno throughout the night, managing to rescue several sacred objects, including “a reliquary that housed a first-class relic of hair belonging to St. Carlo Acutis,” as reported by OSV News’ Juno Arocho Esteves and quoted by LifeSiteNews.
A Place of Deep Spiritual Connection
The Archdiocese of Milan emphasized Carlo Acutis’s lasting devotion to the Bernaga nuns: “Every time he returned to visit them, he entrusted himself to their prayers, asking them to help him accomplish what God wanted for him,” the statement said.
The archdiocese also noted the providence that, on the same day a Mass was celebrated in the church with a relic of Acutis present, “no nuns were killed in the fire,” calling it “a further sign of his affection.”
Saint for the Digital Age
Born in 1991 in London and raised in Italy, Carlo Acutis was known for his extraordinary Eucharistic devotion. Before his death from leukemia in 2006, he used his computer skills to document Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions online — an evangelizing effort he called his “highway to heaven.”
Acutis was beatified in 2020 by Pope Francis and canonized on September 7, 2025, by Pope Leo. His life continues to inspire young Catholics around the world to love the Eucharist and embrace holiness in the digital age.
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