July 6, 2002

Feast Day of St. Maria Goretti
Teenage Saint
Patron of youth, purity, victims of rape and young women
Please read the following biographical information.
  It is the story of the youngest
officially recognized Catholic Saint -- followed by the testimony
of the man who killed her.  We invite you to read on...

• To find out more about this incredible teenage saint, check out: www.mariagoretti.org
   

  It is our hope and prayer that, after reading this story,
   you will be moved to a greater desire of purity in your own heart and life.
  St. Maria Goretti please pray for all who read this story
   -- and for all who struggle with purity of heart, mind and soul.
  
  "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."  Matthew 5:8
   

St. Maria Goretti died exactly 100 years ago today;  she was 11 years old when she experienced her transitus, from this life to the next.  She was born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farm worker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio, in 1899, in search of work. But, her father died of malaria, and her mother had to struggle to feed her children.

In 1902, a twenty year old neighbor, Alessandro Serenelli, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her.  When Maria said that she would rather died than submit, he began stabbing her with a knife.   He stabbed her fourteen times.  She lay in a pool of blood for approximately two hours, before she was discovered, near death. 

She was taken to the hospital.  She forgave Alessandro before she died.  Alessandro was not remorseful.  He was captured and sentenced to thirty years in prison.

Maria's prayers continued to have an impact on Alessandro, even after her death.  He was unrepentant, until he had a dream that he was in a garden. In the dream, Maria was there and gave him flowers. She gave him fourteen flowers, one for each stab wound.  When he awoke from this dream, he was a changed man.  He finally repented of his crime and began to live a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years, he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withhold forgiveness," she said.

When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alessandro was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950, for her purity as a model for youth.   Maria became the youngest officially recognized Roman Catholic saint ever.

She is called a martyr, because she fought against Alessandro's attempts at sexual assault. But, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. Her feast day is July 6. St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth and victims of rape.

Now, here is the testimony of the man who killed Maria Goretti.
 

"I'm nearly 80 years old.  I'm about to depart.  Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself.

My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.

There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.

When I was 20 years-old, I committed a crime of passion.  Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me.  I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon.  She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer.  Thirty years of prison followed.

If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault.

Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society. The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I've been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.

I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children.  I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life."

Signature, Alessandro Serenelli