Saint Maria Goretti
On July 5, 1902, 11-year-old Maria Goretti, was home alone sewing when her 18-year-old neighbour Alessandro attempted to rape her. Maria fought and screamed, saying she would rather die than submit. At her words, Alessandro began to choke her, pulled out a knife and stabbed her 14 times. Maria's family returned home to find her, and she was rushed to the nearest hospital, where she underwent surgery without anesthesia. Unfortunately, her wounds were beyond the surgeon's ability to help, he turned to her saying "Maria, think of me in Paradise." As she lay on the table, she looked up at him, not knowing the extent of her injuries and said, "Well, who knows which of us is going to be there first?", to which the surgeon replied, "You, Maria". The following day Maria passed away, while looking upon an image of Our Lady and holding a cross to her chest. However, before she died Maria forgave Alessandro saying she wanted to see him in Heaven with her. Unrepentant, with no signs of remorse, Alessandro was arrested, tried, and sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment. However, during his eighth year of incarceration, he had a vivid dream, in which Maria, dressed in white, smiling, and without fear, picked 14 lilies and handed them to him one by one. As he received each lily, for each mortal blow, it turned to flames in his hands. Smiling up at him, Maria said “Alessandro, as I have promised, your soul shall someday reach me in heaven.” After 27 years in prison, Alessandro was released. He returned to Maria’s mother and begged her forgiveness. She placed her hands on his head, caressed his face, and gently said: “Alessandro, Maria forgave you, Christ has forgiven you, and why should I not also forgive? I forgive you, of course, my son! Why have I not seen you sooner? Your evil days are past, and to me, you are a long-suffering son.” On June 24, 1950, Maria was declared a saint. Present in the crowd at her canonisation, was Alessandro, who had later become a lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, where he lived in a monastery and worked as its receptionist and gardener until his death.
Feast day: July 6
Patroness of: Purity, rape victims, poverty, forgiveness