Saint Maria Goretti
|
|
It’s never too early to become a saint. Saint Maria Goretti was eleven years old at her death but lived a lifetime of holiness and inspired her murderer to do the same. Born in the east side of Italy, Maria’s father died when she was just 9 years of age.
Helping the Family
She was pressed into service as a sort of foster mother to her two younger siblings as her mother worked in the farm fields. In addition to performing household tasks in her home, she cooked and cleaned for a neighbor man and his son, Alessandro. Alessandro helped Maria’s mother with the farming but was soon taking an unhealthy physical interest in Maria. Maria was wary of him for a while but had never mentioned her concerns for fear of creating difficulties for his family. The large 20-year-old made advances on the girl, which she refused, maintaining her purity. When she did this, Alessandro stabbed her several times.
Maria Goretti's Death
An ambulance brought Maria to the hospital, and it was quickly determined that she would not recover from the wounds of her attacker. Her final moments touched those who were there with her. She wondered aloud where her mother was going to sleep, she forgave Alessandro, and she joyfully received holy viaticum. She died less than 24 hours after she was stabbed.
Saint Maria Goretti's Most Amazing Miracle
Alessandro was sentenced to only 30 years in prison because he was considered a minor at the time of the murder. He spent the first portion of his sentence completely unrepentant and bitter. But then one night, Maria appeared to him in a dream. She gave him lilies, and when he awoke he had experienced a conversion of heart. His good behavior and a general pardon for Italian prisoners at the end of World War I reduced his sentence. Alessandro was released after serving 27 years in prison. His post-confinement behavior points to the actions of a repentant man. On Christmas night of 1934, he begged Maria's mother on his knees for forgiveness. She forgave him and he went on to eventually become a religious brother. He attended Maria's canonization and he remembered her on his own deathbed. The following was what he wrote as a part of his will:
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 by 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 the Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant.
He continued:
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 have written 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.
Alessandro Serenelli, May 5, 1961.
