Saint Maria Goretti

Maria Goretti was born near Ancona, Italy, in 1890. Her parents were poor farm-workers, and her father died while she was still a child. When Maria was 12, an 18-year-old neighbour, Alessandro, began to make advances towards her which she rebuffed. On July 5, 1902, he arranged that they should be alone in the house and he assaulted her, promising death if she did not yield. She chose death and in his rage Alessandro stabbed her several times. She died the following day, having forgiven him.

Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but by 1910 he was a changed man and spent the rest of his life working in a monastery garden. Both he and Maria's family, including her mother, lived to see her canonized in 1950 by Pope Pius XII for her defence of Christian virtue. She is a patron of young women. ©2011 Living with Christ, Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/. Reprinted with permission.