Another Millennial Saint? The Amazing Story of Joe Wilson

A prayer warrior. A tragic death. And the hidden diary that put him on the path to Sainthood. This is the story that saints are made of!

Well the Holy Spirit appears to have done it yet again. There’s another millennial on the road to sainthood. His story is inspiring, striking, and tragic. If those aren’t the pillars of a saint, I don’t know what are. So let me introduce you to Joe Wilson—you may be venerating him some day.

Born in 1994 in the small Scottish town of Carfin, Joe Wilson seemed like any other teenager. He went to school, hung out with friends, and navigated the typical challenges of adolescence in the modern world. But the people who knew him saw something different about him.

"He always had a positive outlook on everything. Everybody that was having problems just seemed to go to Joe… and he'd always listen. He seemed to have an answer for everything as well. He was very positive in life and I think a lot of people were drawn in by that”

Michael O'Hanlon (friend)

“That’s What a Saint Looks Like”

Friends and teachers had long recognized something special about Joe. In one particularly striking moment, a religion teacher asked her class what a modern saint might look like. Without hesitation, everybody pointed pointed to Joe.

What made him stand out?

It wasn’t dramatic miracles or grand gestures. It was simple holiness, expressed in simple ways. Joe was known for his deep devotion to prayer. He spent many hours at Carfin Grotto, a Marian shrine in Carfin offering his prayers for the intentions of others he’d promised to pray for.

He was also devoted to the Holy Rosary, and attended daily Mass. This was not an ordinary 17 year old spirituality!

When Joe died suddenly at just 17 in December 2011 from an undiagnosed heart condition, his community was devastated. But what they discovered in the months and years that followed would eventually put this Scottish prayer warrior on a path to sainthood.

The Hidden Diary

After Joe’s death, his father made a remarkable discovery. Tucked away in the back pages of Joe’s school notebooks were diary entries—powerful and deep spiritual reflections that Joe had been writing from age 14. These weren’t meant for anyone else’s eyes. They were the private thoughts of a teenager trying to understand faith, suffering, and God’s presence.

One entry, written just days before his unexpected death, revealed wisdom far beyond his years:

“I know the world ain’t gonna be perfect and that’s why I love having faith. Just think of all the people who were starving, in wars, famines, were excluded, were tortured, were not loved in the world. All these people who were unfortunate on Earth are, I am certain, sitting on the highest thrones of Heaven — how reassuring is that?”

And on the Mass, and the faith

“After going to Mass on Sunday I feel I have ‘returned home.’ I’ve gone back to where I belong.”

“I know that faith doesn’t make life easy, but it does make it meaningful.”

These writings gave Joe’s family and friends a window into the deep interior life he had cultivated quietly, without fanfare or recognition.

The Road to Sainthood

In November 2025, Scottish bishops approved the opening of Joe Wilson’s cause for beatification. With this decision, Joe received the title “Servant of God”—the first formal step on the long road to canonization.

If he’s canonized, he would join Carlo Acutis as the second millennial saint.

The emergence of these young saints speaks to something important: holiness isn’t reserved for another era or a different kind of person. It’s possible here, now, in the midst of ordinary life.

Don’t try to be the William Wallace of Catholic life. Be more like Joe Wilson. Holiness is simple—let it be simple as you attain it and live it.

Joe Wilson’s story reminds us that saints aren’t born; they’re made through small, faithful choices repeated day after day.The world may soon recognize what Joe’s classmates already knew: they had a saint among them.

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