Every July 6 we celebrate the feast of Saint Maria Goretti, the eleven-year-old Italian girl who was murdered for resisting being violated. María defended herself against her attacker with all her strength and he, in retaliation, stabbed her several times that left her very badly injured. A day later she would die in the hospital to which she was transferred.
Contrary to what could have been expected, a dying Mary – in imitation of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross – granted forgiveness to the young man who attacked her.
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Saint Maria Goretti’s sacrifice in defense of Christian virtue and her merciful attitude moved Pope Pius XII, who canonized her in 1950. The Pontiff called her “little and sweet martyr of purity.”
Like Christ, innocent victim
Marietta (María) Goretti Carlini was born in 1890, in Corinaldo, province of Ancona (Italy). She was the daughter of Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini, being the third of the couple’s seven children. Her parents baptized her the day after her birth and, according to her custom, consecrated her to the Virgin Mary.
The Gorettis lacked significant worldly goods, but they treasured the gift of faith and the desire for their children to live Christian lives. The family used to meet daily for common prayer and especially for the recitation of the Holy Rosary. And, as appropriate, without exception, every Sunday they went to Mass together.
One day, María was alone at home helping with the housework. Her father had died some time ago and her mother had gone out to the fields to work like her every day. Then, an 18-year-old young man named Alessandro Serenelli, son of an acquaintance of his father, took advantage of the circumstances to sneak into the house. Alessandro, prey to her low desires, tried to abuse María, but given the girl’s fierce resistance, the aggressor decided to finish her off and stabbed her mercilessly – her medical report recorded up to fourteen stab wounds.
The greatest inheritance
Maria was taken to the hospital, but the doctors couldn’t do much. The little girl would remain a few more hours in agony, during which she received Holy Communion and the Anointing of the Sick. Then, moments before she died, she expressed her last wish: to wholeheartedly forgive the man who had attacked her and for whom she was losing her life. That gesture was perpetuated as a testament of mercy for all humanity. It was July 6, 1902.
Alessandro Serenelli was sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, he showed no signs of repentance for years until one night he had a dream in which he saw Mary picking flowers in a meadow and upon seeing him she approached him to give them into his hands. From that day Alessandro began to change and behave better. With 27 years of his sentence completed, he was released due to his good behavior. And the first thing he did was look for Mary’s mother and ask her forgiveness for what he had done. The woman, like the little martyr, also forgave him.
Message to the youth of today and always
In 2003, Pope Saint John Paul II, on the occasion of the celebration of the girl martyr, said: “Marietta, as she was familiarly called, reminds the youth of the third millennium that authentic happiness requires courage and a spirit of sacrifice, rejection of all commitment to evil and willingness to pay with one’s own sacrifice, even with death, for fidelity to God and his commandments.”
“Today,” the Holy Father continued, “pleasure, selfishness, or even immorality are frequently exalted, in the name of false ideals of freedom and happiness. It is necessary to clearly reaffirm that the purity of the heart and body must be defended, since chastity ‘guards’ authentic love.”
Martyrs, throughout the history of the Church, died for love of Christ. The case of Saint María Goretti does not cease to have the same testimonial character, with the particularity that her sacrifice occurred in defense of the virtue of purity or chastity, often dismissed, misunderstood or even despised by the world today. , but without which it is impossible to understand, love and embody Christ, whatever the time or circumstance.
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If you want to know more about Saint Mary Goretti, we recommend this article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Santa_Mar%C3%ADa_Goretti.
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