Meeting the Mother of a Saint

Caitlan Rangel shares her family’s experience of meeting Saint Carlo Acutis’ mother, Antonia. 

“Would You Like to Meet Carlo’s Mother?” 

“Would you like to meet Carlo’s mother?” asked our friend, a priest close to Saint Carlo Acutis’ family.  

I looked at my children. My 8-year-old daughter looked at me and took me by the arms: “Mom, we HAVE to.”  

So we settled in to wait, somewhere right outside St. Peter’s square, alongside media crews and other pilgrims, to see the mother of a saint.  

When Saint Carlo’s mother walked into the crowd, she was so unassuming that at first no one noticed, until everyone noticed, and security started separating people out. Monsignor Tony motioned for us to come along with him, and we entered the bustle of reporters, hoping to get a word with Antonia.  

As I watched Antonia and kept my children close, I could not help but think: For her son to become a saint, he had to die. She had to go through the suffering of the death of her child before this.   

I know another mother was thinking the same thing because I heard her crying behind me: “she had to lose her son.”  

But what was Antonia’s experience? Was she still mourning her son’s death? Or was she filled the hope of his life in Heaven with our Lord?  

I don’t have the inside details on that, but what I can tell you is this: In all of the interviews I have heard with Antonia, she points to her son, how his faith can be a sign for us, and to living for Jesus. She looks and sounds like a woman rich in faith, hope, and love.  

A Mother of Faith, Hope, and Love 

“Antonia, do you have a word for this family?” Msgr. asked motioning toward us.  

She turned around, away from the reporters, looked at my children, and smiled. Like a faithful mother, she asked my children, “Do you pray the Rosary every day?”  

She continued, “Pray the Rosary every day. A little when you wake up, a little on your way to school, a little before you do homework, a little before bed. And when you die, you will go to heaven.” A mother with hope.  

Then, she traced a cross on their foreheads. A mother full of love.  

“I don’t have many of these,” she continued and reached into her purse, “it is a relic of Carlo,” and she handed them beautiful holy cards with pieces of a linen sheet that had been on Carlo when he was dying in the hospital.  

And like that, we had met the mother of a saint and had encountered him in her.  

As we walked away from the group and into another sea of people in Saint Peter’s Square, everything seemed crisp and clear and palpably alive: a sure sign of God’s presence with us.  

Saint Carlo, pray for us! 

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Copyright 2025 Caitlan Rangel
Images: copyright 2025 Caitlan Rangel, all rights reserved.