The Purity of Saint Maria Goretti

At 20 years old, he tried to rape her, but she resisted and in the process became a saint and saved his soul.

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Lust drove Alessandro Serenelli to attempt to rape a young girl who was dedicated to God. She was Maria Goretti, only 11 years old, pure and unyielding.

Her resistance cost her her life, but her forgiveness sparked his conversion, leading him to witness her sainthood in Saint Peter's Square. Born in 1890 in rural Italy, Maria's world was toil and prayer. Her father had died when she was just nine years old. She became her mother's rock, cooking, cleaning, and caring for her siblings, a child with a big heart. Maria couldn't read.

She never went to school, but she knew god. Her purity wasn't just innocence. It was a choice. She'd walk for miles to mass, pray the rosary daily. Neighbors called her an angel.

That light drew darkness that she couldn't foresee. On a hot summer day in July of nineteen o two, darkness arrived. Maria was on the porch, sewing, her baby sister nearby. Alessandro, then 20 years old, was a farmhand. He was watching her.

He'd lusted before and made advances, but she had rebuffed him. This time he carried a knife and a plan. Alessandro lured Maria inside and demanded her body. No, she shouted. It's a sin.

God forbids it. She fought, not for pride, but for salvation, hers and his. Enraged, he stabbed her 14 times. Her purity wasn't weakness. It was her strength, and it infuriated him.

After being stabbed so many times, she collapsed, her blood pooling on the floor, but her spirit held firm. Neighbors found her and rushed her to a hospital. And although she was in agony, she didn't scream. She didn't curse. Doctors marveled at her resilience.

She simply clutched a crucifix, whispering prayers through the pain. For twenty four hours, she suffered. A priest was called and asked her, do you forgive him? Yes, she said. I forgive Alessandro.

I want him in heaven with me. At 11 years old, she chose love over hate. Her last act was a plea for her killer's soul. Maria died on July '2. The town mourned, a child martyr, they said.

Alessandra went to prison, unrepentant, mocking her faith. But her mercy lingered, a seed planted deep. And years later, it would bloom in a way no one could have expected. In prison, Alessandro dreamed of her, Maria glowing, offering lilies, and seeing her kindness in his dreams stoked a fire of guilt. He woke up weeping, a changed man.

After twenty seven years in prison, Alessandro walked free. And he only had one goal, to seek out Maria's mother to beg forgiveness. The day came. Maria's mother faced him, her daughter's killer. If Maria forgave you, how can I not?

She said as she cried. She'd lost everything, but gave mercy as her daughter had. Alessandro spent his life in penance, a testament to the girl who saved him from himself. Then a day no one could have predicted, 06/24/1950, the canonization of Maria as a saint of the one holy Catholic and apostolic church. The first time a mother saw her child declared a saint.

Saint Peter's Square overflowed with pilgrims. Alessandra was there too, a gray figure in the crowd, crying as her glory was proclaimed. Saint Maria Goretti shows us the power of courage and forgiveness, a child who faced and resisted evil to save a soul. Her death birthed redemption. Her sainthood, a shining example of a heart that never stopped loving.

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