St Maria Goretti
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Maria Goretti. St. Maria lived with a poor Italian tenant farmer, she unfortunately was not able to attend school, and she couldn’t read or write. St. Maria had made her First Communion not long before her death, she was one of the more mature students in her class.
During a very hot afternoon in July, St. Maria was sitting at the top of some stairs, and she was mending a shirt. During this event St. Maria was not quite 12 years old, but she was mature. While she was mending the shirt a cart had stopped outside, and a neighbor, who was 18-year-old Alessandro, ran up the stairs. Alessandro grabbed her and tried to pull her into a bedroom. St. Maria had struggled and tried to call for help. St. Maria kept yelling “No, God does not wish it, "and “It is a sin. You would go to hell for it.” Alessandro began striking at her blindly with a very long dagger.
St. Maria was later taken to a hospital. Her last hours were marked by the usual simple compassion of the good, St. Maria had forgiveness for her murderer and her last Holy Communion. St. Maria had died about 24 hours after the attack.
Alessandro was later sentenced to more or less then 30 years in prison. For a very long time he was very unrepentant. However eventually, one night he had a vision of St. Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him. From that vision on his life changed. When Alessandro was later released after 27 years, his first act was to get the forgiveness of Maria’s mother.
During this time devotion to the young martyr had grown, many different miracles had occurred and in less than half a century she was canonized. At St. Maria’s beatification during the year 1947, her 82-year-old mother, two sisters, and her brother appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. Three years later, St. Maria was canonized and at St. Maria's canonization, a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy.
St. Maria's feast day is celebrated on July 6. St. Maria is the patron saint of inmates, rape victims, purity, the youth and forgiveness.
Prayer to St. Maria
St. Maria help us to guide more people to Christ. St. Maria through you beautiful life we are able to witness the importance of repentance and forgiveness. St. Maria help us to forgive others and repent for our sins. St. Maria be with us in moments of temptation, trial and stress and help us in any other intention we may have.
Amen
St. Maria pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works cited:
Information (read from, not taken):
Franciscan media. “Saint Maria Goretti. ”Saint Maria Goretti | Franciscan Media. Accessed July 6, 2021.
Images:
Saint Maria Goretti statue. July 6, 2021. Saint Maria Goretti statue - Google Search