FOREVER YOUNG

SAINTS WHO DIED YOUNG

MARIA GORETTI (1890-1902)

Maria Goretti was born not far from St Francis' hometown of Assisi in 1890, the third of seven children. By the time Maria was five, the family had hit bad times. Her father, Luigi, was forced to give up his small farm. They moved to other parts of Italy in search of work. Luigi died when Maria was nine years old. They were forced to share a house with another family, the Serenellis.

Despite their poverty, the Goretti family were deeply religious. Mamma Assunta was illiterate, but she gave her children a profound sense of God and of self-respect. They could only afford the most basic education as the entire family had to work in the fields to earn money, while Maria kept house and looked after her baby sister. She badgered her mother to be allowed to make her first communion. Assunta told her she hadn't the time to teach her the catechism and couldn't afford the expense of the dress. But Maria mastered enough of the catechism to be allowed to receive when she was ten.

Alessandro Serenelli, the son of the family with whom the Gorettis shared the house, was taken by Maria. He was twice her age, but she was an attractive looking girl with long hair and tall for her age. The Serenellis were a problem family. They were as poor as the Gorettis, but the father was an alcoholic bully. A few times, Alessandro had made improper suggestions to Maria. She was horrified and fled in tears, Alessandro threatening her: "If you say anything, I will kill you."

On the afternoon of July 5, 1902, both families were at work. Maria, as usual, was at home sewing and caring for her two-year-old sister. Alessandro had prepared a weapon with which to threaten Maria.

Many years later, Alessandro would describe what happened next. "Brutally I grabbed her by the arm and, as she was resisting, dragged her into the kitchen. With my foot I closed the door and secured the latch. She immediately realised that I wanted to assault her, as I had attempted to do before. She told me: 'No, no, God does not want this. If you do this, you go to hell.' Seeing that she was determined to reject my brutal cravings, I went on a rampage, took the weapon and began to stab her in the stomach. As I was stabbing her, she struggled to defend herself and repeatedly invoked the name of her mother and cried out: 'God, God, I'm dying, Mamma, Mamma!" I remember seeing blood on her clothes and leaving her while she was still squirming. I understood that I had mortally wounded her. I threw the weapon away and went into my bedroom. I locked the door and threw myself on the bed."

Maria was rushed to hospital. She died the following day, forgiving Alessandro and desiring to meet him again in heaven.

Alessandro was arrested and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. For three years, he was in denial. Then he wrote a letter to the local bishop, asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, in which Maria gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands. On his release, he visited Assunta and begged her forgiveness. In time, Alessandro became a Capuchin brother.

Along with Assunta and other members of the family, he was present at Maria's canonisation in Rome in 1954. Maria is the patron saint of rape victims, teenage girls, poverty, purity, and forgiveness.

Brendan McConvery CSsR

Reality

Volume 86. No. 10 December 2021 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960

Published by The Irish Redemptorists, St Joseph's Monastery, St Alphonsus Road, Dundalk County Louth A91 F3FC Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org

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