Maria Goretti
Maria Teresa Goretti (16 October 1890 – 6 July 1902) was an Italian virgin martyr of the Catholic Church, and one of the youngest saints to be canonized. She was born to a farming family. Her father died when she was nine, and the family had to share a house with another family, the Serenellis. She took over household duties while her mother and siblings worked in the fields.
One afternoon, Alessandro, the Serenellis' 20-year-old son, made sexual advances to her. When she refused to submit to him, he stabbed her 14 times. She was taken to the hospital but she died while forgiving him. He 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 Capuchin monastery and died in 1970. Maria was beatified in 1947 and canonized in 1950. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists).
Patron saint of Forgiveness; chastity; temptations to impurity; victims of rape; teenagers; modern youth; Children of Mary
In the Martyrology
- July 6 Saint Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr