A novena for rest…
In late 2024, my daughter had hit a dead end of exhaustion and discouragement. She was worn down to such a degree it drove me to prayer. I believed she needed to leave her job and take an extended sabbatical to remove herself from a situation that was not healthy mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. She had saved some money, but she didn’t see how she could take even a short break. I knew it was time to pray a novena, but to which saint? I wanted to ask the intercession of someone who loved the Eucharist and was devoted to it. That’s when Blessed Carlo Acutis popped into my head. Why? I have studied so many saints over the years, but he was fairly new to me. Yet his name stood out in my mind in bright, shining letters.
I began the novena, but I didn’t tell my daughter whose prayers I was asking for. I did ask her, “If you could go anywhere in the world for your sabbatical, where would it be?” She immediately answered, “Italy,” without a moment’s hesitation. She and I had taken a trip to Italy in 2023, and she felt the time we spent there was just not enough. I told her I was going to pray for her to be able to go to Italy for her sabbatical. Meanwhile, she began to research the safest cities in Italy for a single woman to stay. She looked into Verona, Bologna, Florence, and many other cities before surprising me with Assisi. I still didn’t tell her I was asking Blessed Carlo Acutis, who is entombed in Assisi, for his prayers.
On the eighth day of my novena, I found an apartment for rent in Assisi that looked perfect. It was tucked away in a quiet alley and was about a 15-minute walk from the Basilica of San Francesco, where the only weekly English mass in Assisi is offered every Sunday. I wrote the owner of the apartment and explained my daughter’s desire to spend three months in Italy. She immediately wrote back that the situation was ideal for a young woman and that Assisi was extremely safe and secure. “Well, Carlo?” I asked, “Can you please pray for the funds for this sabbatical?”
While I was still praying, my phone dinged with a message from my husband. He had sent me a photo of a check he’d just received from a relative—a gift beyond our wildest imagination. The funds would cover the apartment, the airline tickets, and even more. I had the answer to my novena and immediately texted my daughter a link to the apartment and the assurance that we had the funds to make it happen. She was floored. I told her we could book her flights immediately, and I wrote the owner of the apartment to confirm the booking.
The most incredible part of this story is that my daughter wasn’t Catholic at the start of this. My husband and I converted from Protestantism to the Catholic Church in 2022, and six of our children have come into the Church as well. But this particular daughter has hesitated, needing to take her own time and find her own way. Part of my prayers to Blessed Carlo were for a rest and a break from mental and emotional stresses that were harming my daughter. But the focal point of my prayer was for her to find her way to the Church and into the Eucharistic heart of Jesus. Right before she left for her sabbatical, my daughter told me, “When I come home from Italy, I want to be confirmed as a Catholic.”
Blessed Carlo has prayed for us. I know it beyond the shadow of a doubt. Coming to Assisi on my own, I have been able to sit down by his tomb and feel the joy and peace that radiate from his relics. Thank you, Jesus, for the witness of Carlo Acutis. Thank you for the joy of the saints who adore You in glory. May they draw millions to Your precious Heart.
~ Jennie C., USA
