At the end of 2025, Arthur and Caroline Negrete, parishioners of Our Lady of the Desert in Apple Valley, completed what was an at-times painful journey to obtain a relic of Saint Carlo Acutis for their church.
Their journey with Catholic relics actually began in 1993 while Arthur was stationed at Trapani Air Base in Sicily, Italy. During an Easter visit to St. Peter’s Square, Caroline befriended nuns from Krakow, Poland who invited the couple to their home country. Caroline told them she and Arthur had always wanted to visit Poland.
In 1995, the Negrete’s visited Krakow, where the nuns welcomed them and took them to significant sites, including Niepukalanow, where St. Maximillian Kolbe began the Franciscan Friary. The nuns explained to the couple that the only thing that remained of the saint was clippings of his hair.
“After we returned to Trapani, Caroline received a letter from this nun, with three pieces of his beard,” Arthur said. “We felt honored to have a first-class relic of St. Maximillian.”
After years of holding onto the relics, the couple decided to donate the beard strands to St. Maximilian Kolbe churches. They gave one each to a church in Houston, TX, and in Florida, both of which were thrilled to receive the relics. With one relic remaining, they consulted their priest, Father James Gibson, who suggested contacting Father Michal Osuch at Our Lady of the Lake parish in Lake Arrowhead, who is of Polish descent.
“So, we drove up to Lake Arrowhead from Apple Valley and met with Fr. Mike and he was almost in tears to receive the relic of St Maxmillian. As we spoke, Fr. Mike said he had written to the Bishop in Assisi, Most Reverend Domenico Sorrentino, asking for a relic of Blessed Carlo [Acutis].”
The official request for a relic was initiated in May 2025. The couple planned to get the relic in June while on a trip to see their daughter, who had accepted a job with the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. However, after Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, they learned they couldn’t obtain the relic until Acutis was canonized.
“Even when we told her, we came all the way from California and we would have to spend more money to return, she said, ‘come back once he became a Saint,’” Arthur recalls.
Five days after Carlo Acutis was canonized by Pope Leo XIV, on Sept. 12, 2025, and a day before the couple celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary, their first-born son, Patrick Arthur Negrete, passed away of a heart attack in his sleep.
“Our lives fell apart,” Arthur said. “We were devastated and going to Assisi was the last thing we wanted to do. The cost for the return flight, plus the cost of burying Patrick, was a nightmare and our hearts were not up to traveling to Rome and Assisi.”
After taking some time to reflect on the thriving youth ministries at their parish, the couple believed bringing back the relic was vital for the future of their parishes and other diocesan churches.
“Though the tragic loss of Patrick was still fresh in our hearts, we felt we had NO choice but to return to Assisi and bring this precious relic, especially for our youth,” Arthur said.
Thanks to the generosity of Our Lady of the Desert parishioners and the Knights of Columbus, they received financial support that covered all travel expenses to retrieve the relic.
“We have had at least 200 faithful people touch their rosaries, prayer cards, statues of saints, their own medals, pictures and bibles, all asking St. Carlo to intercede for them,” the couple said. “We are blessed to have had the honor of going to Assisi and returning with the relic for the benefit of all diocesan parishioners and we pray this relic will bring many blessings and conversions.”