Beatified teen inspires song from Long Island Catholic high school

Blessed Carlo Acutis, the Italian teen beatified in October, is not only responsible for a medical miracle, he also has inspired a song featuring his own quotations.

Dec 05, 2020

By Mark Pattison
Blessed Carlo Acutis, the Italian teen beatified in October, is not only responsible for a medical miracle, he also has inspired a song featuring his own quotations.

“Born an Original” had its television debut Nov 18 on “CFN Live,” a programme on the Catholic Faith Network, which serves New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Blessed Acutis, noted Theresa Marino, campus minister at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, New York, “was 15 when he died” in 2006, making him a peer to students. The school is in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Marino said on the show that teens can identify with Blessed Acutis, someone “whose pictures are in colour. There are pictures of him that look like home videos. It makes sainthood seem real, like something they can do themselves.”

Blessed Acutis spent four years developing a catalogue of every known  eucharistic miracle. “What makes a 15-year-old want to make a website about that instead of a celebrity?” Marino said. The blessed’s life, she added, gives teens “permission, in a Catholic way, to become yourself … to be a saint. To be who God created you to be.”

Marino played guitar and sang backup vocals to Holy Trinity senior Bryce Ridley’s lead, which incorporates quotations from Blessed Acutis. Two other students, seniors Jack McDonough and Luca DiGrigoli, helped compose the song.

“When my time comes I’m sure I won’t have to fear,” the lyrics say. “Lord, you are my highway to heaven. In you I trust. Something extraordinary awaits us, my hope comes from you.” The chorus says: “Born an original, that’s how I’m gonna stay till my dying day.” Blessed Acutis said it was better to be an original and “not a photocopy.” ––CNS

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