Did you know that many Catholic saints performed miracles in their youth? Saints are ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives of heroic virtue. Like you, many were students, athletes, teenagers, and in one case, even a computer coder!

Saints become close to God through prayer and virtuous action. Catholics believe that when saints die, they pass into heaven and directly into God's presence and can obtain blessings and graces for others through intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer and devotion to saints are supported and encouraged in the Catholic faith.

Learning about the lives of saints can help us become better Catholics. By studying the lives of saints, we can see the power and positive influence of having great faith. Here are six saints, according to We Dare To Say, who lived their youth in devotion to Christ and whom you should get to know as we celebrate All Saints Day!

Blessed Carlo Acutis
Age: 15

Blessed Carlo Acutis was a British teenager during the early 2000s who gained notoriety within the Church when he developed a website that categorized every Eucharistic miracle in the Church – a total of 136. Acutis used his passion for computer coding to further the mission of the Church and spread information about the miracles of Jesus to the entire world.

Acutis was diagnosed with leukemia at 15 and died a few months later.

In an interview with the Catholic News Agency in 2007, Acutis’ mother said: “With this intense spiritual life, Carlo has fully and generously lived his fifteen years of life, leaving a profound impact on those who knew him.  He was an expert with computers, he read books on computer engineering and left everyone in awe, but he put his gift at the service of others and used it to help his friends.”

Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto

Ages: 10, 9

Photo of Lúcia Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto (by Joshua Benoliel, Public Domain)

One of the most famous Mysteries of Faith in the 21^st century of the Church was the apparition of The Blessed Mother near Fátima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. In 1917, Our Lady of Fátima appeared to three shepherd children and gave them a message to share with the world. Among these children were Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who were just seven and eight years old at the time of the apparition.

Among three secrets that Our Lady of Fátima revealed to the children was the message to learn and pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” At the time, World War I was ravaging Europe. The Virgin Mary appeared six times to the children between May 13 and Oct. 13, 1917. At her final apparition on May 13, 1917, 90,000 people made a pilgrimage to Fátima to pray the rosary and witness the apparition.

Francisco passed away in 1919 from influenza, and his sister Jacinto died one year later from the same affliction. Their cousin Lucia de Santos, the third child to bear witness to Our Lady of Fátima, became a Carmelite nun and lived to 98. In 2017, Pope Francis canonized Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto on the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fátima’s final apparition. On the same date, Sister Lucia de Santos was accorded the title Servant of God as the first significant step toward her canonization.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Age: 24

A painting of St. Kateri by Claude Chauchetière S.J., dated 1690 (from Diocèse de Saint-Jean-Longueuil, Public Domain)

Saint Kateri is the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was born in 1656 and was an Algonquin-Mohawk Native American.

At the age of four, Kateri contracted smallpox. Her entire family died during the outbreak, and because of the illness, she was left with scarring on her whole body and face. She often wore blankets to cover her face out of shame. After her family died, Kateri was raised by her uncle, the chief of the Mohawk tribe.

At the age of 19, Kateri converted to Catholicism. This decision was very unpopular with her family, and she was shunned because of her conversion. She was accused of sorcery by her family members. Still, Kateri refused to deny Jesus Christ. She took a vow of chastity and pledged to marry only Jesus Christ. To avoid persecution, she fled to a Christian native community near Montreal.

On April 17, 1680, Saint Kateri became ill and passed away at 24. She never forfeited her steadfast devotion to Jesus Christ up until her death.

Blessed Laura Vicuña

Age: 12

Blessed Laura Vicuña fled Chile with her mother and sister during political unrest in the late 19th century. Her father died when she was young. The family immigrated to Argentina, where Laura’s mother married an abusive man, Manuel Mora, to support their family. Laura’s stepfather physically abused her mother and Laura.

Laura was enrolled in a Catholic School run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, later known as the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, and she came under the influence of the nuns who cared for her there. Laura was devoted to her faith and prayed to God to take her life in exchange for her mother’s freedom from her abusive marriage.

Laura convinced her mother to convert to Catholicism and leave her abusive husband. Soon after, Laura became sick and died. Laura died believing she had laid her own life down for her mother’s imitation of Our Lord. She is the patron of abuse victims.

Saint José Luis Sánchez del Rio

Age: 14

Saint José was born in 1913 in Sahuayo, Michoacán, México. He loved his faith and was strongly devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. He also had a strong devotion to the Catholic martyrs, and it is said that when he was 13, he visited the tomb of a Cristero martyr and asked God to let him also die in defense of the Catholic faith.

During this period in history, the Mexican government was persecuting Catholics to destroy the influence of the Catholic Church in its country. The government was closing Catholic schools, churches, and convents and executing Catholic priests. As a result, many Catholics rebelled against the government.

José begged his mother to participate in the protests, despite being only 14 years old. During a battle, José was captured and asked to deny his faith. He refused and was tortured brutally. José recited the rosary as he suffered and prayed for the redemption of the soldiers who were torturing him. He died a martyr for the Catholic Church of Mexico and was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
 

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Featured image: A portrait of a stained glass window at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ (courtesy Archdiocese of Newark).