Carlo & Pier : My friends in Heaven

My view for the Canonization!

Imagine camping out all night under the stars in Rome, surrounded by thousands of people from all over the world, waiting to see two modern-day heroes become Saints. That’s exactly where I found myself on the 7th of September, 2025.

The view of St. Peter's Basilica from my room!

I arrived in Rome early in the morning on the 6th of September. I caught a few hours of sleep and then woke up to the view of St. Peter’s Basilica outside my window. I only had about 40 hours in Rome, so I did my best to make every moment count. We walked a lot that day and saw many beautiful churches. The streets were packed with people from all over the world. I met up with some of the volunteers from Generation Hope Camp: Lauren, Ronan, Lucy, Samuel, Sarah and Br. Raphael!

On the night of the 6th, I camped outside St. Peter’s Square to make sure I got a good seat for the Canonisation Mass (something I definitely think Pier Giorgio Frassati would’ve done!).

I had a lot of friends with me and we were all too excited to sleep. We spent the night sharing our adventures from the day and getting the crowd around us to join in singing: 

“When I say Frassatti, you say Acutis!” 

Us: “Frassatti!” 

Crowd: “Acutis!”

St Andrew, the patron Saint of Scotland, in St. Peter’s Basilica

At 7 a.m. on the 7th, the barricades opened and the crowds made their way into St. Peter’s Square, where the Mass was being celebrated at 10 a.m. The Square was completely packed with people from many different countries who were waving their flags while singing and chanting in anticipation. I made it to the ninth row of seats, which was very lucky considering there were at least a hundred rows and crowds of thousands behind those who didn’t get seats, flooding the rest of the Square and beyond.

The Mass was celebrated in Latin and Italian (both of which I know fewer than ten words in), but I was deeply moved by the beauty and the weight of the event I was witnessing. What an honour!

The Mass was similar to any Sunday Mass, with the addition of Pope Leo formally declaring Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis Saints! And at that moment, when Pope Leo declared St. Carlo Acutis a Saint, Carlo’s Mom was shown on the big screen. She was there in the crowd, witnessing all this - imagine hearing those words and knowing your son is in Heaven as a Saint, praying for you! 

I spent the rest of the day recovering from lack of sleep and sun exhaustion before flying back to Glasgow that night. It was such a wild adventure and it reminded me that being a Saint doesn’t mean being boring or perfect — it means living fully for Jesus, and saying ‘YES’ to the adventures He invites us to go on! Just like Carlo and Pier Giorgio did. And that’s something anyone can do.

St Carlo and St Pier - pray for us!