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Revision as of 01:53, 15 September 2023 editProficientKangaroo (talk \| contribs)37 editsm Changed given name to surname to avoid ambiguity (since one of Maria’s brothers shares the same given name).Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 22:53, 30 November 2024 edit undoNicfulton (talk \| contribs)38 edits →Maria's death: Adding link to https://en.wikipedia.org/Giordano_Bruno_Guerri
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	\|honorific_prefix=]		\|honorific_prefix=]
	\|name=Maria Goretti		\|name=Maria Goretti
	\|birth_date={{birth date\|1890\|10\|16\|mf=y}}		\|birth_date={{birth date\|1890\|10\|16\|df=y}}
	\|death_date={{death date and age\|1902\|07\|06\|1890\|10\|16\|mf=y}}		\|death_date={{death date and age\|1902\|07\|06\|1890\|10\|16\|df=y}}
	\|feast_day=~~July~~ 6 (General Roman Calendar & Passionist Calendar)		\|feast_day=6 July (General Roman Calendar & Passionist Calendar)
	\|venerated_in=]		\|venerated_in=]
	\|image=Maria Goretti.jpg		\|image=Maria Goretti.jpg
	\|imagesize=200px		\|imagesize=200px
			\|caption=Portrait of Goretti, 1929
	\|birth_place=], ], ], ]		\|birth_place=], ], ], ]
	\|death_place=], ], ], ]		\|death_place=], ], ], ]
	\|titles=] and ]		\|titles=] and ]
	\|beatified_date=~~April~~ 27, 1947		\|beatified_date=27 April 1947
	\|beatified_place=], ]		\|beatified_place=], ]
	\|beatified_by=]<ref name="LIVES" />		\|beatified_by=]<ref name="LIVES" />
	\|canonized_date=~~June~~ 24, 1950		\|canonized_date=24 June 1950
	\|canonized_place=], ]		\|canonized_place=], ]
	\|canonized_by=Pope Pius XII		\|canonized_by=Pope Pius XII
	\|attributes=lily; farmer's clothing; ]		\|attributes=lily; farmer's clothing; ]
	\|patronage=Forgiveness ~~and Mercy~~, ~~Victims~~ of ~~rape~~, ~~crime~~ victims, teenagers, modern youth, ]		\|patronage= Forgiveness, chastity, temptations to impurity, victims of rape, teenagers, modern youth, ]
	\|major_shrine=], ], ], Italy		\|major_shrine=], ], ], Italy
	\|suppressed_date=		\|suppressed_date=
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	]		]

	'''Maria Teresa Goretti''' ({{IPA-it\|maˈriːa teˈrɛːza ɡoˈretti\|lang}}; ~~October~~ 16, 1890 – ~~July~~ 6, 1902) is an Italian ] of the ], and one of the youngest ]s to be ].<ref name="LIVES">{{cite book\|title=Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year\|editor=Hugo Hoever\|location=New York\|publisher=Catholic Book Publishing Co.\|year=1955\|pages=259–260}}</ref> She was born to a ]. 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.		'''Maria Teresa Goretti''' ({{IPA\|it\|maˈriːa teˈrɛːza ɡoˈretti\|lang}}; 16 October 1890 – 6 July 1902) was an Italian ] of the ], and one of the youngest ]s to be ].<ref name="LIVES">{{cite book\|title=Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year\|editor=Hugo Hoever\|location=New York\|publisher=Catholic Book Publishing Co.\|year=1955\|pages=259–260}}</ref> She was born to a ]. 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, ], 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 forgiving him. He was arrested, convicted, and jailed. During imprisonment, he ]. After 27 years, he was released from prison and visited her mother to beg forgiveness, which she granted. He later became a ] in a ] and died in 1970. ~~She~~ was ] in 1947 and canonized in 1950. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (]).		One afternoon, ], 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 ]. After 27 years, he was released from prison and visited her mother to beg forgiveness, which she granted. He later became a ] in a ] and died in 1970. Maria was ] in 1947 and canonized in 1950. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (]).

	== Biography ==		== Biography ==
	Maria was born on October ~~16,~~ 1890, in ], in the ], then in the ], to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini, the third of seven children: Antonio (who died in infancy), Angelo, Maria, Mariano (Marino), Alessandro (Sandrino), Ersilia, and Teresa.<ref>{{cite web\|url= http://www.santamariagoretti.it/wp/en/marias-life/#famiglia \|title= The family\| publisher= Santuario de Corinaldo \|access-date=February 4, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Novarese1967>"Saint Maria Goretti by Her Mother", compiled by Rev. D. Luigi Novarese, Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1967)</ref>{{rp\|1}}<ref name=Poage>{{Cite book\|author=Poage, Rev. Godfrey\|title=In Garments All Red\|location= Boston\|publisher= Daughters of St. Paul\|year=1977\|isbn=978-0-89555-615-8}}</ref>{{rp\|48,59}}<ref name="AGE">O'Grady, Desmond. , February 25, 1985 in ''The Age'' newspaper of Melbourne, Australia. Accessed April 11, 2010.</ref><ref name="journalist">Crusz, Noel. , of ]. Accessed April 11, 2010.</ref>		Maria was born on 16 October 1890, in ], in the ], then in the ], to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini, the third of seven children: Antonio (who died in infancy), Angelo, Maria, Mariano (Marino), Alessandro (Sandrino), Ersilia, and Teresa.<ref>{{cite web\|url= http://www.santamariagoretti.it/wp/en/marias-life/#famiglia \|title= The family\| publisher= Santuario de Corinaldo \|access-date=February 4, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Novarese1967>"Saint Maria Goretti by Her Mother", compiled by Rev. D. Luigi Novarese, Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1967)</ref>{{rp\|1}}<ref name=Poage>{{Cite book\|author=Poage, Rev. Godfrey\|title=In Garments All Red\|location= Boston\|publisher= Daughters of St. Paul\|year=1977\|isbn=978-0-89555-615-8}}</ref>{{rp\|48,59}}<ref name="AGE">O'Grady, Desmond. , February 25, 1985 in ''The Age'' newspaper of Melbourne, Australia. Accessed April 11, 2010.</ref><ref name="journalist">Crusz, Noel. , of ]. Accessed April 11, 2010.</ref>

	By the time Maria was five, her family had become so poor that they were forced to give up their farm, move, and work for other farmers. In 1896, they moved to Colle Gianturco, near ] and ], about fifty miles outside ]; and then in 1899 to ], near modern ] and ] in ], where they lived in a building, "La Cascina Antica," they shared with another family which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro.<ref name=Novarese1967 />{{rp\|1}}<ref name="journalist" /><ref name=RUEF>{{Cite book\|last=Ruef\|first= Vinzenz\|title=Die Wahre Geschichte von der hl. Maria Goretti\|publisher= Miriam\|location= Jestetten\|year= 1992\|isbn=978-3-87449-101-3}}</ref>{{rp\|20}}<ref>Sister Mary Germaine. St. Maria's Messenger, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2013.</ref><ref>Città di Paliano. {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020063936/http://www.comune.paliano.fr.it/drupal-6.14/node/220 \|date=October 20, 2013}} Retrieved August 2, 2013.</ref> Soon, her father became very sick with ], and died when she was just nine.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|21}} While her mother and siblings worked in the fields, she would cook, sew, watch Teresa, and keep the house clean.		By the time Maria was five, her family had become so poor that they were forced to give up their farm, move, and work for other farmers. In 1896, they moved to Colle Gianturco, near ] and ], about fifty miles outside ]; and then in 1899 to ], near modern ] and ] in ], where they lived in a building, "La Cascina Antica," they shared with another family which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro.<ref name=Novarese1967 />{{rp\|1}}<ref name="journalist" /><ref name=RUEF>{{Cite book\|last=Ruef\|first= Vinzenz\|title=Die Wahre Geschichte von der hl. Maria Goretti\|publisher= Miriam\|location= Jestetten\|year= 1992\|isbn=978-3-87449-101-3}}</ref>{{rp\|20}}<ref>Sister Mary Germaine. St. Maria's Messenger, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2013.</ref><ref>Città di Paliano. {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020063936/http://www.comune.paliano.fr.it/drupal-6.14/node/220 \|date=October 20, 2013}} Retrieved August 2, 2013.</ref> Soon, her father became very sick with ], and died when she was just nine.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|21}} While her mother and siblings worked in the fields, she would cook, sew, watch Teresa, and keep the house clean.
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	=== Maria's death ===		=== Maria's death ===
	]		]
	On ~~July~~ 5, 1902, <!-- DO NOT CHANGE TO TWELVE YEARS OLD. DO THE MATH. -->eleven<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO TWELVE YEARS OLD. DO THE MATH.-->-year-old Maria was sitting on the outside steps of her home, sewing one of Serenelli's shirts and watching Teresa, while Serenelli was threshing beans in the barnyard.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|87–89}} Knowing she would be alone, he returned to the house and threatened to stab her with an awl if she did not do what he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a ] and warning him that he would go to Hell.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|46}} She fought desperately and kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" He choked her, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her fourteen times.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|90,101}} She tried to reach the door, but he stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|44}}		On 5 July 1902, <!-- DO NOT CHANGE TO TWELVE YEARS OLD. DO THE MATH. -->eleven<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO TWELVE YEARS OLD. DO THE MATH.-->-year-old Maria was sitting on the outside steps of her home, sewing one of Serenelli's shirts and watching Teresa, while Serenelli was threshing beans in the barnyard.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|87–89}} Knowing she would be alone, he returned to the house and threatened to stab her with an awl if she did not do what he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a ] and warning him that he would go to Hell.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|46}} She fought desperately and kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" He choked her, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her fourteen times.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|90,101}} She tried to reach the door, but he stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|44}}

	Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Assunta and Giovanni came to check on her, they found Maria on the floor bleeding and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without ], but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway through the surgery, she woke up. The pharmacist said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked at him and said, "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," she said. She also expressed concern for her mother's welfare.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|54}} The following day, 24 hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for Alessandro and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, she died of her injuries.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|97,105}}		Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Assunta and Giovanni came to check on her, they found Maria on the floor bleeding and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without ], but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway through the surgery, she woke up. The pharmacist said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked at him and said, "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," she said. She also expressed concern for her mother's welfare.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|54}} The following day, 24 hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for Alessandro and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, she died of her injuries.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|97,105}}
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	Journalist Noel Crusz provided a more detailed account:		Journalist Noel Crusz provided a more detailed account:

	{{blockquote\| On ~~July~~ 5 in 1902, at 3 pm whilst <nowiki></nowiki> Assunta and the other children were at the threshing floor, Serenelli who persistently sought sexual favours from the {{sic\|12-year-old}}<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ELEVEN YEARS OLD. THIS IS AN EXACT QUOTE AND WE CANNOT CHANGE IT.--> girl approached her. She was taking care of her infant sister in the farmhouse. {{sic\|Allesandro}} threatened her with a 10-inch awl, and when she refused, as she had always done, he stabbed her 14 times.		{{blockquote\| On 5 July in 1902, at 3 pm whilst <nowiki></nowiki> Assunta and the other children were at the threshing floor, Serenelli who persistently sought sexual favours from the {{sic\|12-year-old}}<!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ELEVEN YEARS OLD. THIS IS AN EXACT QUOTE AND WE CANNOT CHANGE IT.--> girl approached her. She was taking care of her infant sister in the farmhouse. {{sic\|Allesandro}} threatened her with a 10-inch awl, and when she refused, as she had always done, he stabbed her 14 times.

	The wounds penetrated her throat, with lesions of the pericardium, heart, lungs, and diaphragm. Surgeons at Orsenigo were surprised that she was still alive. In a dying deposition, in the presence of the Chief of Police, she told her mother of Serenelli's sexual harassment, and two previous attempts made to rape her. She was afraid to reveal this earlier since she was threatened with death.<ref name="journalist" />}}		The wounds penetrated her throat, with lesions of the pericardium, heart, lungs, and diaphragm. Surgeons at Orsenigo were surprised that she was still alive. In a dying deposition, in the presence of the Chief of Police, she told her mother of Serenelli's sexual harassment, and two previous attempts made to rape her. She was afraid to reveal this earlier since she was threatened with death.<ref name="journalist" />}}

	A third account of the assault was presented by Italian historian Giordano Bruno Guerri in 1985. He asserted that, while in prison, Alessandro stated that he did not complete the assault and Maria died a virgin. Guerri identifies the weapon as an ] rather than a dagger.<ref name="journalist" />		A third account of the assault was presented by Italian historian ] in 1985. He asserted that, while in prison, Alessandro stated that he did not complete the assault and Maria died a virgin. Guerri identifies the weapon as an ] rather than a dagger.<ref name="journalist" />

	== Alessandro's imprisonment ==		== Alessandro's imprisonment ==
	Alessandro was captured shortly after the attack: the police taking him to prison overtook the ambulance taking Maria to the hospital.<ref name=Novarese1967 />{{rp\|54}} Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time it was commuted to 30 years; judges even considered he was not as mature as he was expected to be for a 20-year-old, and that he grew up in a poor, neglectful family, with several brothers and relatives suffering from mental illness and an alcoholic father.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|36,60,64}} It has also been suggested that it was due to her mother's plea for mercy that he was not sentenced to death.<ref>Raemers, Rev. Wm. "St. Dominic Savio and St. Maria Goretti", Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1954) p. 60.</ref> He insisted he had attempted to rape her several times and decided to kill her because of her refusal and desperate crying. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, ] Giovanni Blandini, visited him in jail. He wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|87}}		Alessandro was captured shortly after the attack: the police taking him to prison overtook the ambulance taking Maria to the hospital.<ref name=Novarese1967 />{{rp\|54}} Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time it was commuted to 30 years; judges even considered he was not as mature as he was expected to be for a 20-year-old, and that he grew up in a poor, neglectful family, with several brothers and relatives suffering from mental illness and an alcoholic father.<ref name=Poage />{{rp\|36,60,64}} It has also been suggested that it was due to her mother's plea for mercy that he was not sentenced to death.<ref>Raemers, Rev. Wm. "St. Dominic Savio and St. Maria Goretti", Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1954) p. 60.</ref> He insisted he had attempted to rape her several times and decided to kill her because of her refusal and desperate crying. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, ] Giovanni Blandini, visited him in jail. He wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|87}}

	After his release, Alessandro visited Assunta and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving ] side by side.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|88}} He reportedly prayed to ~~her~~ every day and referred to her as "my little saint."<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|88–91}}		After his release, Alessandro visited Assunta and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving ] side by side.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|88}} He reportedly prayed to Maria every day and referred to her as "my little saint."<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|88–91}}

	Alessandro later became a ] of the ], living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until he died in 1970 at age 87.<ref>{{cite web\|url = http://www.santamariagoretti.it/wp/alessandro-serenelli/\|title = Alessandro Serenelli\|publisher = Santuario di Santa Maria Goretti in Corinaldo\|language = it}}</ref>		Alessandro later became a ] of the ], living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until he died in 1970 at age 87.<ref>{{cite web\|url = http://www.santamariagoretti.it/wp/alessandro-serenelli/\|title = Alessandro Serenelli\|publisher = Santuario di Santa Maria Goretti in Corinaldo\|language = it}}</ref>
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	Maria was beatified on April 27, 1947. In attendance at the ceremony were both Assunta and ]. On the evening of the ceremony in ], the Pope walked over to and greeted Assunta. She later reported, "When I saw the Pope coming, I prayed, 'Madonna, please help me', and I felt faint. He put his hand on my head and said, "Blessed mother, happy mother, mother of a ]!" Afterward, both could be seen with eyes wet with tears.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|67}}		Maria was beatified on April 27, 1947. In attendance at the ceremony were both Assunta and ]. On the evening of the ceremony in ], the Pope walked over to and greeted Assunta. She later reported, "When I saw the Pope coming, I prayed, 'Madonna, please help me', and I felt faint. He put his hand on my head and said, "Blessed mother, happy mother, mother of a ]!" Afterward, both could be seen with eyes wet with tears.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|67}}

	Three years later, on June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Maria as a saint, the "] of the 20th century."<ref name="LIVES" /> Assunta was again present at the ceremony, along with her four remaining sons and daughters~~. Alessandro was also present~~.<ref> at Mariagoretti.org</ref><ref> at Catholic.org</ref><ref> {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201063701/http://catholicism.about.com/cs/saints/a/mariagoretti.htm \|date=December 1, 2006}} at Catholicism.about.com</ref>		Three years later, on June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Maria as a saint, the "] of the 20th century."<ref name="LIVES" /> Assunta was again present at the ceremony, along with her four remaining sons and daughters.<ref> at Mariagoretti.org</ref><ref> at Catholic.org</ref><ref> {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201063701/http://catholicism.about.com/cs/saints/a/mariagoretti.htm \|date=December 1, 2006}} at Catholicism.about.com</ref> Despite what the popular press reported, Alessandro was not present for either the beatification or canonization. He and the friars decided, to avoid distracting from the ceremony, it was best for him not to attend.<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Engel \|first=Charles D. \|title=Alessandro Serenelli: A Story of Forgiveness \|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor \|year=2020 \|isbn=978-1-68192-558-5 \|location=Huntington, Indiana \|pages=62–63}}</ref>

	Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside ], in the ]. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and we introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of the grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|71}}		Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside ], in the ]. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and we introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of the grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer.<ref name=RUEF />{{rp\|71}}
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	== Feast day ==		== Feast day ==
	]]]		]]]
	Maria's ], celebrated on ~~July~~ 6, was inserted in the ] when it was ]. She is the patron saint of ], rape victims, girls, youth, teenage girls, poverty, purity, and forgiveness.<ref></ref>		Maria's ], celebrated on 6 July, was inserted in the ] when it was ]. She is the patron saint of ], rape victims, girls, youth, teenage girls, poverty, purity, and forgiveness.<ref></ref>

	== In art ==		== In art ==
	Maria is represented in art as a wavy-haired young girl in farmer clothes or a white dress, with a bouquet of lilies in her hands, and she ~~has sometimes~~ counted among the ranks of the ] order since her spiritual formation was guided by the Passionists. Both lilies and white garments are traditional icons of virginity in Catholic ].		Maria is represented in art as a wavy-haired young girl in farmer clothes or a white dress, with a bouquet of lilies in her hands, and she is counted among the ranks of the ] order since her spiritual formation was guided by the Passionists who were also the postulators of her cause for Sainthood. Both lilies and white garments are traditional icons of virginity in Catholic ].

	== In media ==		== In media ==

Latest revision as of 22:53, 30 November 2024

Italian virgin-martyr of the Catholic Church For other uses, see Maria Goretti (disambiguation).

Saint Maria Goretti
Portrait of Goretti, 1929
Virgin and martyr
Born	(1890-10-16)16 October 1890 Corinaldo, Province of Ancona, Marche, Kingdom of Italy
Died	6 July 1902(1902-07-06) (aged 11) Nettuno, Province of Rome, Lazio, Kingdom of Italy
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Beatified	27 April 1947, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Pius XII
Canonized	24 June 1950, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Pius XII
Major shrine	Nettuno, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy
Feast	6 July (General Roman Calendar & Passionist Calendar)
Attributes	lily; farmer's clothing; martyr's palm
Patronage	Forgiveness, chastity, temptations to impurity, victims of rape, teenagers, modern youth, Children of Mary

Maria Teresa Goretti (Italian: [maˈriːa teˈrɛːza ɡoˈretti]; 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).

Biography

Maria was born on 16 October 1890, in Corinaldo, in the Province of Ancona, then in the Kingdom of Italy, to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini, the third of seven children: Antonio (who died in infancy), Angelo, Maria, Mariano (Marino), Alessandro (Sandrino), Ersilia, and Teresa.

By the time Maria was five, her family had become so poor that they were forced to give up their farm, move, and work for other farmers. In 1896, they moved to Colle Gianturco, near Paliano and Frosinone, about fifty miles outside Rome; and then in 1899 to Le Ferriere, near modern Latina and Nettuno in Lazio, where they lived in a building, "La Cascina Antica," they shared with another family which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro. Soon, her father became very sick with malaria, and died when she was just nine. While her mother and siblings worked in the fields, she would cook, sew, watch Teresa, and keep the house clean.

Maria's death

On 5 July 1902, eleven-year-old Maria was sitting on the outside steps of her home, sewing one of Serenelli's shirts and watching Teresa, while Serenelli was threshing beans in the barnyard. Knowing she would be alone, he returned to the house and threatened to stab her with an awl if she did not do what he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning him that he would go to Hell. She fought desperately and kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" He choked her, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her fourteen times. She tried to reach the door, but he stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.

Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Assunta and Giovanni came to check on her, they found Maria on the floor bleeding and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without anesthesia, but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway through the surgery, she woke up. The pharmacist said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked at him and said, "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," she said. She also expressed concern for her mother's welfare. The following day, 24 hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for Alessandro and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, she died of her injuries.

Journalist Noel Crusz provided a more detailed account:

On 5 July in 1902, at 3 pm whilst Assunta and the other children were at the threshing floor, Serenelli who persistently sought sexual favours from the 12-year-old [sic] girl approached her. She was taking care of her infant sister in the farmhouse. Allesandro [sic] threatened her with a 10-inch awl, and when she refused, as she had always done, he stabbed her 14 times. The wounds penetrated her throat, with lesions of the pericardium, heart, lungs, and diaphragm. Surgeons at Orsenigo were surprised that she was still alive. In a dying deposition, in the presence of the Chief of Police, she told her mother of Serenelli's sexual harassment, and two previous attempts made to rape her. She was afraid to reveal this earlier since she was threatened with death.

A third account of the assault was presented by Italian historian Giordano Bruno Guerri in 1985. He asserted that, while in prison, Alessandro stated that he did not complete the assault and Maria died a virgin. Guerri identifies the weapon as an awl rather than a dagger.

Alessandro's imprisonment

Alessandro was captured shortly after the attack: the police taking him to prison overtook the ambulance taking Maria to the hospital. Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time it was commuted to 30 years; judges even considered he was not as mature as he was expected to be for a 20-year-old, and that he grew up in a poor, neglectful family, with several brothers and relatives suffering from mental illness and an alcoholic father. It has also been suggested that it was due to her mother's plea for mercy that he was not sentenced to death. He insisted he had attempted to rape her several times and decided to kill her because of her refusal and desperate crying. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Blandini, visited him in jail. He wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."

After his release, Alessandro visited Assunta and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving Holy Communion side by side. He reportedly prayed to Maria every day and referred to her as "my little saint."

Alessandro later became a lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until he died in 1970 at age 87.

Beatification and canonization

Maria was beatified on April 27, 1947. In attendance at the ceremony were both Assunta and Pope Pius XII. On the evening of the ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica, the Pope walked over to and greeted Assunta. She later reported, "When I saw the Pope coming, I prayed, 'Madonna, please help me', and I felt faint. He put his hand on my head and said, "Blessed mother, happy mother, mother of a Blessed!" Afterward, both could be seen with eyes wet with tears.

Three years later, on June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Maria as a saint, the "Saint Agnes of the 20th century." Assunta was again present at the ceremony, along with her four remaining sons and daughters. Despite what the popular press reported, Alessandro was not present for either the beatification or canonization. He and the friars decided, to avoid distracting from the ceremony, it was best for him not to attend.

Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside Saint Peter's Basilica, in the Piazza San Pietro. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and we introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of the grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer.

Maria's three brothers would claim that she intervened miraculously in their lives. Angelo heard her voice telling him to emigrate to America. Alessandro was reportedly miraculously given a sum of money to finance his own emigration to join Angelo. Sandrino died in the United States in 1917, and Angelo died in Italy when he returned there in 1964. Mariano said he heard her voice telling him to stay in his trench when the rest of his unit partook in a charge against Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the Isonzo during World War I. He, the only survivor of that charge, lived until 1975 and had a large family.

Maria's remains are kept in the crypt of the Passionist Basilica of Nostra Signora delle Grazie e Santa Maria Goretti in Nettuno, south of Rome. It is often incorrectly reported that her body remained incorrupt after her death. This is because her skeletal remains are contained in a wax statue lying on its back inside a glass casket and the statue has been mistaken for her body.

Feast day

Maria's feast day, celebrated on 6 July, was inserted in the General Roman Calendar when it was revised in 1969. She is the patron saint of chastity, rape victims, girls, youth, teenage girls, poverty, purity, and forgiveness.

In art

Maria is represented in art as a wavy-haired young girl in farmer clothes or a white dress, with a bouquet of lilies in her hands, and she is counted among the ranks of the Passionist order since her spiritual formation was guided by the Passionists who were also the postulators of her cause for Sainthood. Both lilies and white garments are traditional icons of virginity in Catholic iconography.

In media

Heaven over the Marshes (Cielo sulla palude) is an Italian film based on Maria's life, filmed in 1949 and directed by Augusto Genina. Ines Orsini plays her and Mauro Matteuci plays Alessandro. It was awarded a prize at the 10th International Exhibition of Cinema Art at Venice in 1949, as the one which contributed most to the spiritual and moral betterment of mankind.

Marcel Delannoy wrote a radiophonic opera, Maria Goretti, in 1953.

The subplot of the canonization of an 11-year-old girl in William Gaddis's 1955 novel The Recognitions was based on Maria's case.

In 2003, Maria Goretti, a RAI Italian TV movie directed by Giulio Base, starring Martina Pinto as Maria, was acclaimed by critics.

Footnotes

^ Hugo Hoever, ed. (1955). Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co. pp. 259–260.
"The family". Santuario de Corinaldo. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
^ "Saint Maria Goretti by Her Mother", compiled by Rev. D. Luigi Novarese, Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1967)
^ Poage, Rev. Godfrey (1977). In Garments All Red. Boston: Daughters of St. Paul. ISBN 978-0-89555-615-8.
^ O'Grady, Desmond. Maria Goretti: A Rush to Judgment?, February 25, 1985 in The Age newspaper of Melbourne, Australia. Accessed April 11, 2010.
^ Crusz, Noel. Maria Goretti – Saint Under Siege, July 7, 2002, The Sunday Times of Sri Lanka. Accessed April 11, 2010.
^ Ruef, Vinzenz (1992). Die Wahre Geschichte von der hl. Maria Goretti. Jestetten: Miriam. ISBN 978-3-87449-101-3.
Sister Mary Germaine. "Saint Maria Goretti: Martyr For Purity," St. Maria's Messenger, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
Città di Paliano. "Un itinerario fuori le mura" ("A route out of the walls"). Archived October 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 2, 2013.
Raemers, Rev. Wm. "St. Dominic Savio and St. Maria Goretti", Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons, (1954) p. 60.
"Alessandro Serenelli" (in Italian). Santuario di Santa Maria Goretti in Corinaldo.
St Maria Goretti Biography at Mariagoretti.org
St. Maria Goretti at Catholic.org
St Maria Goretti Archived December 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine at Catholicism.about.com
Engel, Charles D. (2020). Alessandro Serenelli: A Story of Forgiveness. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-1-68192-558-5.
Joan Carroll Cruz (1977). The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati. TAN Books & Publishers, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89555-066-8.
"The Body". Pilgrimage of Mercy. 2015-06-30. Archived from the original on 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
1962 typical edition of the Roman Missal
"A Reader's Guide to The Recognitions, I.1 pp. 3-21". www.williamgaddis.org.
"Maria Goretti". IMDb. 23 February 2003. Retrieved August 1, 2014.

External links

Friends of Maria Goretti
St. Maria Goretti: The Little Saint of Great Mercy Archived 2021-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
Saint Maria Goretti
at St. Maria Goretti's canonization:

(in Italian) Pope Pius XII's speech
(in Latin) Pope Pius XII's homily

An "Insight" episode based on Maria Goretti, portrayed by Ann Jillian with Frank Gorshin

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