Today is September 20, the Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs.
We read at today’s Mass, “But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance” (Lk 8:15).
From the time he was a small boy, Carlo Acutis had a special devotion to his guardian angel. He prayed each day for his angel’s protection and came to recognize very real help in response. The angels, for Carlo, were not distant or abstract — they were living companions, messengers of God who walk with us and guide us on the path of holiness.
Reading the lives of the saints deepened his trust in the angels. He loved to hear how the saints were aided by these invisible friends, and he imitated their devotion. Carlo’s own guardian angel once gave him an interior reminder that he never forgot: “Not love for oneself, but the glory of God.” For Carlo, this sentence cut to the heart of the Christian life. Pride and selfishness turn us inward, away from God. But if we let our hearts be lifted toward God’s glory, we are set free to love.
All for God’s glory
This devotion also gave Carlo discernment. When his friends invited him to go to nightclubs, drink heavily or use drugs, he refused. He said his guardian angel gave him clear warnings about the dangers of those places. Instead of judging his friends, he prayed for them, even asking cloistered monks to join him in intercession. Carlo knew that holiness was not only about avoiding sin, but also about protecting others through prayer and love.
Carlo’s reliance on his guardian angel reminds us that God has given us companions we too easily forget. Angels are constant helpers, whispering God’s truth, steering us away from danger, and urging us toward the good. Like Carlo, we can entrust our daily struggles to their care and let them remind us that all we do must be for God’s glory.
Let us pray,
O God, who have been pleased to increase your adopted children in all the world, and who made the blood of the Martyrs Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and his companions a most fruitful seed of Christians, grant that we may be defended by their help and profit always from their example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
*Father Patrick’s MDV video will be up shortly.
