LA VALLETTA BRIANZA, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — A massive fire engulfed a monastery in northern Italy, destroying the nearly 400-year-old complex, including the church where Saint Carlo Acutis received his First Holy Communion.
The fire broke out in the Bernaga Monastery in La Valletta Brianza, near Milan, on the eve of the first celebration of St. Carlo Acutis’ feast day, October 12.
While some at first suspected arson, authorities have so far have pointed to a short circuit in one of the monastery’s cells as the likely source of the fire. Twenty-one cloistered nuns escaped without injury.
Initial reports indicate that many historic documents, artefacts, and relics were irreparably damaged or completely consumed in the blaze.
“Firefighters fought the blaze until the following day and also managed to save several works of art and relics housed in the monastery, including a reliquary that housed a first-class relic of hair belonging to St. Carlo Acutis, who was canonized Sept. 7 by Pope Leo,” explained OSV News’ Juno Arocho Esteves.
FIRE DESTROYS HISTORIC BERNAGA MONASTERY IN ITALY
Rumesponde ang mga bumbero matapos sumiklab ang apoy sa bubong ng Monastery of Bernaga sa La Valletta Brianza, Italy nitong Sabado, Oct. 11.
Ang kumbento, na tahanan ng humigit-kumulang 20 madre, ay sumikat bilang lugar kung… pic.twitter.com/cL7JqgbWlc
— News5 (@News5PH) October 12, 2025
“Carlo remained deeply attached to the nuns: every time he returned to visit them, he entrusted himself to their prayers, asking them to help him accomplish what God wanted for him,” according to the archdiocese.
“Many saw a further sign of his affection in the fact that on Saturday, the same day a Mass was celebrated in the same church and a relic of his was present, no nuns were killed in the fire,” the archdiocesan statement said.
Born in 1991, Carlo, an English-born Italian, is known for his devotion to the Holy Eucharist which led him to create a website documenting all the approved Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions. During his life, Acutis referred to the Eucharist as “my highway to heaven.”
Described as a “millennial saint,” Acutis died in 2006 from leukemia and was beatified in October 2020 by Pope Francis.
