July 6th the Feast Day of St. Maria Goretti – Sweet little martyr of purity!
(photo restoration by https://www.catholicartandjewelry.com of Lincoln, Nebraska)Saint Maria Goretti, who died in 1902 at age 11, is the epitome of mercy and forgiveness, especially “in today’s society, in which forgiveness is so rare, mercy is ever more important,” Pope Francis said.
As true followers of Jesus, Christians “must let go of resentments and forgive those who have wronged them so that they may experience God’s forgiveness,” Pope Francis said.
St. Maria Goretti was born in 1890, one of six children from a very poor Catholic farming family in Italy. As the family moved about to find work, they ended up in a small town about 40 miles outside of Rome so her father, Luigi Goretti, could work as a sharecropper. A year later, he died of malaria as a result of the mosquito infestation in the swampy region. St. Maria’s mother, Assunta Goretti, had no choice but to take on her husband’s work in the fields. Leaving young St. Maria to care for her younger siblings and do all of the household chores. The family shared a home, part of an old warehouse, with another poor family – Giovanni Serenelli, a widower, and his son Alessandro. St. Maria would do household work for the Serenellis as well.
When her mother was out working in the fields Alessandro Serenelli had tried to force himself on young St. Maria, but she was able to fight him off. He had threatened her, and her family’s lives if she ever told. The young man of about 20 continued to harass her until July 5, 1902, when she was all alone in the kitchen, he viciously attacked her. It is recorded that she again fought him protesting that, “This is a sin! God does not want it,” and told Alesandro he “would go to hell!” He stabbed her a total of 14 times.
St. Maria was found miraculously still alive by her mother and the boy’s father. They rushed her to the hospital.
She offered her pain up to Jesus, and in her last words before she died on July 6, 1902, she said, “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli… and I want him with me in heaven forever.”
The story doesn’t end there. God’s plan had more lessons for us.
Six years after the attack, St. Maria appeared to Alessandro in a dream, presenting him with 14 white lilies – representing forgiveness for each time he stabbed her.
This was the beginning of the young man’s miraculous conversion. He called for a bishop and confessed his crime. After being released from prison, he traveled to the home of Assunta Goretti to publicly ask for forgiveness. She like her daughter did. It was Christmas Eve. The two attended Mass together.
Afterwards Alessandro joined a Franciscan monastery and served there as a lay brother.
In 1935, when the cause for St. Maria’s canonization was opened, it was Alessandro, who testified of her miraculous intercession and sanctity. He was present alongside Assunta at St. Maria’s canonization in 1950.
St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!
