Maria Teresa Goretti is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Catholic Church and one of the youngest saints to be canonized. She was born was born on October 16, 1890, in Corinaldo, Italy, to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini, the third of seven children. Her father died when she was nine and the family had to share a house with another family, which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son Alessandro. Maria took over household duties while her mother, brothers and sister worked in the fields.
On July 5, 1902, eleven-year-old Maria was sitting on the outside steps of her home, sewing one of Alessandro's shirts and watching her younger sister Teresa, while Alessandro was threshing beans in the barnyard. Knowing she would be alone, he returned to the house and threatened to stab her if she did not do what he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning him that he would go to Hell. She fought desperately and kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" He first choked her, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her fourteen times. She tried to reach the door, but he stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.
When her mother Assunta and Giovanni came to check on her, they found Maria on the floor bleeding and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without anaesthesia, but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. The following day, 24 hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for Alessandro and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, she died of her injuries.
Alessandro was arrested, convicted and jailed. During imprisonment, he repented. After 27 years, he was released from prison and visited her mother to beg forgiveness, which she granted. He later became a lay brother in a monastery and died in 1970.
Maria Goretti was beatified in 1947 and canonized in 1950 and she is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists).
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Dominica
2. Saint Goar
3. Saint Merryn
4. Saint Noyala
5. Saint Romulus and companions
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