I remember the first time that I heard the story of St Maria Goretti – I was 15 years old, on a youth retreat and the young adult retreat team performed a tableau play about her life. Maria was the first young Saint I had ever heard about, and honestly, the first Saint story that ever stuck with me or made any impact whatsoever.  

You can find many better re-tellings of her story, but here is my very brief summary for this post: Maria Goretti was the third of seven children in her family. The Goretti’s were a poor family, who lived and worked with other farming families to support themselves. Her father died of malaria when she was nine years old, so Maria would watch the youngest children and do other housework while her mother and other siblings would work in the fields. One of the families were the Serenelli’s, Giovanni and his son Alessandro, who was 20 years old. To put it mildly, Alessandro was a terrible man - he had made sexual advances towards Maria previously, and on July 5th, 1902 he attempted to sexually assault her while the rest of her family were out in the fields. As always, Maria adamantly refused, telling Alessandro that it was not what God wanted, but this time, Alessandro’s response to her refusal was to stab her a total of 14 times.  

Maria was brought to the hospital, where she was operated on without anesthetic, and where she told her mother and the priest who came to see her that she forgave Alessandro and wanted him to be with her in heaven.  

Maria died on July 6th at the age of 11. Alessandro was not repentant; he was not sorry and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He did not speak to anyone for the first 3 years, until a bishop visited him in prison. After the bishop’s visit, Alessandro wrote to him and told him that Maria appeared to him in a dream, presenting him with 14 lilies. From that day on, he was a changed man and asked for Maria’s intercession daily. When he was released from prison, he went directly to Maria’s mother’s home and begged her forgiveness. They went to Holy Mass together the next day.  

Maria’s beautiful heart moved my 15-year-old heart then, and still deeply moves me today. Her concern and care for the soul of the man who selfishly took her life and her forgiveness towards him for this heinous act committed against her is astounding. Her forgiveness of Alessandro allowed also for her mother’s forgiveness, which allowed for Maria’s mother and Alessandro to be side by side at Maria’s canonization.  

This post will never be able to truly convey all that St Maria Goretti means to me and what she continues to teach me. On the simplest level, she reminds me that forgiveness allows you to set a prisoner free. And that prisoner is often ourselves. If she can forgive to the degree which she did, surely, I can forgive those in my own life for wrong doings.  

St Maria Goretti is also a patron Saint of young people, so I ask her intercession for the youth ministry and young people of St Isaac’s daily. She has been a beautiful intercessor for the amazing community here. So on her feast day, I ask her intercession for each of you, for a softening of any hardened hearts, and for your love for Jesus to grow ever more. St Maria Goretti, pray for us!!