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The Life of Saint Maria Goretti Maria Goretti was born on October 16, 1890, in Italy. She had five siblings. She worked with her parents on a farm. She could not read or write because she had never gone to school. By the time she was six, her family was forced to give up their farm to move and to work for other farmers because her family became so poor. After that, her father died of malaria. He died when she was nine years old. Soon after, her mother, sisters, and brother went to work in the fields. Maria would cook, sew, and keep the house in an orderly fashion. At that time, it was very difficult, but the family stayed close. Maria’s family became poorer and eventually shared their house with the Serenelli family. This family had an eighteen- year -old son named Alessandro. He filled his head with thoughts and images that would lead him to sinfulness. Many times he came to Maria trying to make her sinful also. Maria refused and became very afraid of him. One day, while Maria was mending clothes, Alessandro came from the fields and tried to force Maria into sin. Maria refused, so Alessandro threatened her life. She again refused and told Alessandro that his thoughts and ideas were wrong. Alessandro got really mad and stabbed her fourteen times. Her family heard her screams and rushed her to the hospital. Alessandro was arrested and sentenced to thirty years behind bars. Maria lived for twenty-four hours after being stabbed fourteen times by Alessandro. She died on June 6, 1902. She forgave Alessandro and prayed that he would turn to God in sorrow. In prison Alessandro refused to admit he was wrong. He remained angry and bitter. After six years, Maria appeared to him in a dream and gave him a bouquet of lilies. That dream changed his life. He spent the rest of his sentence trying to make up for what he had done to Maria. After twenty-seven years, he was released and the first thing he did was go to Maria’s mother and beg for forgiveness. Then he joined the priesthood to complete his penance. In 1950, she was canonized in a ceremony attended by twenty-five million people, including her mother, the first mother ever to see her child canonized, and Alessandro Serenelli, her killer. Her feast day is July 6. She is the Patron Saint of teenage girls and youth. Few lives of the saints have touched the hearts of people as much as Saint Maria Goretti. Maria had a deep love for God, respect for her body, tremendous courage, and Christ like forgiveness. Her life spoke louder than any words at the age of twelve.
Prayer O God, author of innocence and lover of chastity, you conferred on St. Maria, your handmaid, the grace of martyrdom at a youthful age. Through her intercession, grant us constancy in you, who gave the crown to a virgin who fought for you.
Information Gathered By . . .
We received information from the following web sites…
© 1994 Loyola University Press
http://www.pit.edu/~eflst4/goretti.html
http://www.stjerome.com/stglass/mariag.html
http://www.flarc.edu.on.ca/~stph/stmariaew.html
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