St. Maria Goretti - 1902

St. Maria Goretti is unique among the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church, as the youngest saint ever to be canonised! At the time of her martyrdom, she was only eleven and a half years old.

Maria Goretti was born on October 16, 1890, to a very large, but poor, Italian family. Her family was so poor, in fact, that in order to make ends meet, her father, Luigi Goretti, had to make arrangements with another family, the Serenellis, to come and live on their farm, and do the farmwork with them, in order to make ends meet--to have enough food and a place to live!

As Maria grew up, she made a decision to live as God would want her to--to be good, and humble, and modest. She would take care of her younger siblings, and do thankless chores around the farm, even when no one asked. Around town, she was well-known for her good behaviour and her modesty. When, two years after they'd moved to the Serenelli farm, her father died of Malaria, St. Maria Goretti had to mature even more, and continued to serve her family and take care of her brothers and sisters.

When she was growing up, Catholic children received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion in a different order than we do today. Maria would have been Confirmed around the age of six or seven, and would not receive the Eucharist until she was eleven. As her opportunity for First Communion approached, Maria took extra care to prepare herself to receive such an awesome gift: Jesus Christ, fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharistic bread and wine! She spent much time in prayer and spiritual reading, in order to make sure she was worthy of receiving such a precious gift! When the day came, her family said that it was the greatest moment, and highlight of her life!

But if St. Maria Goretti could be considered a model of saintly virtue, of love, compassion, and modesty, then another person on that farm was the exact opposite. The Serenelli family had a son, Alessandro. And Alessandro was not a good kid. In his teens, he got into the wrong crowd, and going with them to parties and other things, he lived a very wayward life. Alessandro was often violent, and got in trouble with the law on more than one occasion. On top of all this, he would occupy his free time reading and looking at very impure things, like pornography. All of these choices that Alessandro made, caused him to have a very skewed and troubled, and selfish, outlook on life. And when he looked at Maria as she grew up, he felt lust in his heart.

Alessandro would many times try to come on to Maria, trying to seduce her; but Maria, very conscious of God's instructions on the topic of sex, and very protective of her modesty and purity, would tell Alessandro, No, and remind him that God did not permit that kind of behaviour. But Alessandro wasn't interested in what God wanted, but only what he wanted. Over and over, he would try to tempt Maria, and over and over she would turn him down, reminding him of God's Laws. Finally, Alessandro wasn't going to take no for an answer any more, and on July 5th, 1902, he tried to force himself on Maria, in order to rape her. When she again struggled to resist him, telling him again that "This is a sin! God doesn't want this! You can go to hell for this, Alessandro!" he took a knife, and stabbed Maria with it fourteen times. Maria was quickly taken to the hospital, and Alessandro was taken to prison.

As Maria lay in the hospital overnight from July 5th to 6th, 1902, she held a medal of Our Lady, and a Crucifix. Over and over, she prayed for Alessandro, that God would have mercy on him! She kept praying for Alessandro's forgiveness until she died, and, truly, even afterward in Heaven.

Meanwhile, Alessandro, who was a minor when he committed his attack, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. While there, nothing changed, and he continued to be a selfish, violent prisoner. Often he would attack the guards, as well as other inmates. He would even attack the faithful priest who would come to visit him, in order to encourage him to repent and turn to God. This behaviour continued for thirteen years.

But one night, Alessandro had a vision. In that vision, he saw Maria Goretti in a field full of lilies--a flower that has traditionally symbolised purity. Maria was gathering up the lilies into a bouquet, and then walked up to Alessandro. She told him to take the lilies, and when he did, he said they turned into a still white flame that went into his heart. Alessandro awoke from that vision as a changed person.

The next day, when the priest came to see him--probably expecting to be beaten up--he found a calm and quiet Alessandro Serenelli. That day, Alessandro made a good Confession, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. After he served out the rest of his sentence, Alessandro went to Maria's mother, and asked her forgiveness for his crime. Mrs. Goretti forgave Alessandro, and that year they attended Christmas Eve mass together. Alessandro afterwards became a Capuchin monk, and lived a life of purity, helping others to turn from their sinful lifestyles.

When the cause of Maria's beatification came up, Alessandro Serenelli testified to her life and purity, and told of his crimes against her. When in 1952, Pope Pius XII canonised her as a saint, her mother was there to witness it! On that occasion, the Pope said these words:

With splendid courage she surrendered herself to God and his grace and so gave her life to protect her virginity.

The life of a simple girl - I shall concern myself only with highlights - we can see as worthy of heaven. Even today people can look upon it with admiration and respect. Parents can learn from her story how to raise their God-given children in virtue, courage, and holiness; they can learn to train them in the Catholic faith so that, when put to the test, God's grace will support them and they will come through undefeated, unscathed, and untarnished.

From Maria's story carefree children and young people with their zest for life can learn not to be led astray by attractive pleasures which are not only ephemeral and empty but also sinful. Instead they can fix their sights on achieving Christian moral perfection, however difficult that course may prove. With determination and God's help all of us can attain that goal by persistent effort and prayer.

Not all of us are expected to die a martyr's death, but we are all called to the pursuit of Christian virtue.

So let us all, with God's grace, strive to reach the goal that the example of the virgin martyr, Saint Maria Goretti, sets before us. Through her prayers to the Redeemer may all of us, each in his own way, joyfully try to follow the inspiring example of Maria Goretti who now enjoys eternal happiness in heaven.

St. Maria Goretti again reminds us that the story of a martyr goes beyond their tragic death--but always impacts the lives around them, even their killers, as we see from the radical change Maria's example of purity, her willingness to die, and her prayers from heaven had on Alessandro Serenelli.

God bless.