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Saint Maria Goretti – Virgin and martyr

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A saint who preferred to die rather than offend God and lived the virtue of purity to the point of heroism. Santa Maria Goretti was born in Corinaldo (Italy) on October 16, 1890, the daughter of Luis Goretti and Assunta Carlini, both peasants. She was assassinated in Nettuno on July 6, 1902, an Italian laywoman and martyr. Her real name was María Teresa Goretti, and nicknamed Marietta.

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Maria was the second of six children. She lived in a humble family and lost her father at the age of 10 due to malaria. As a consequence of the death of her father, Maria Goretti’s mother had to work, leaving her house and her younger siblings in her charge, who carried out her duties with joy and attended classes every week. catechism. At the age of 11, she made her first communion, making herself, since then, the firm purpose of dying rather than committing a sin. On the same farm where María lived, Alejandro Serenelli worked, who fell in love with María, who was 12 years old at the time. Serenelli, because of impure readings, dedicated himself to looking for Maria from her, making proposals that the saint rejected, making Serenelli feel despised by her. He begs her mother not to leave her alone at home, but she does not dare to clearly explain the causes of her panic, because Alessandro has threatened her:
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«If you tell your mother anything, I’ll kill you»

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Her only recourse is prayer. On the eve of her death, María again cryingly asks her mother not to leave her alone, but, not receiving any further explanations, she considers it a whim and does not attach importance to her plea.
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On July 5, 1902, Maria stayed at home sewing clothes and taking care of her two-year-old sister (Teresa). Alessandro, who had gotten tired of Maria’s refusals, because he always made her dishonest proposals that at first she doesn’t understand. Later, guessing the boy’s intentions, the young woman is warned and she rejects the flattery and threats.
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Serenelli went in search of María, who was alone in her house, and when he found her, he invited her to go to a bedroom in her house, to which María refused, for which he was forced to force her.
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«Maria!» shouts Alessandro.

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«What do you want?».

«I want you to follow me»

«So that?»

«Follow me!»

«If you don’t tell me what you want, I won’t follow you»

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Faced with such resistance, the boy violently grabs her arm and drags her to the kitchen, barring the door. The girl screams, but the noise doesn’t reach the outside. Failing to get the victim to submit, Alessandro gags her and brandishes a dagger. Maria begins to tremble but she does not succumb. Furious, the young man violently tries to rip off her clothes, but Maria gets rid of her gag and yells:
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«Don’t do that, it’s a sin… You’ll go to hell»
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Alessandro went completely out of control, stabbing Maria more than 14 times with an ice pick; when he saw the badly wounded Maria trying to crawl to the door for help, he stabbed her three more times and fled from her. Maria was mortally wounded by receiving fourteen serious injuries and she has vanished.

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In the hospital there is nothing to do. After a long and painful trip by ambulance, around eight at night, they arrive at the hospital. The doctors are surprised that the girl has not yet succumbed to her wounds, as her pericardium, heart, left lung, diaphragm, and intestine have been hit. Upon verifying that she has no cure, they send for the chaplain. Maria confesses with all lucidity. After her, the doctors lavish her care for two hours, without putting her to sleep. Mary does not lament, and she does not stop praying and offering her sufferings to the Blessed Virgin, . Her mother manages to allow her to stay at the head of the bed. Maria still has the strength to comfort her:
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«Mom, dear mom, I’m fine now… How are my brothers and sisters?»
Thirst devours Mary:.

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«Mom, give me a drop of water»
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«My poor Maria, the doctor doesn’t want to, because it would be worse for you»
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Surprised, Maria continues saying:.
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«How is it possible that she can’t drink even a drop of water?»
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Then, she directs her gaze on the crucified Jesus, who had also said I thirst!, and resigns herself. The hospital chaplain assists her paternally and, at the moment of giving her Holy Communion, he questions her:
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«Maria, do you wholeheartedly forgive your murderer?»
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Repressing an instinctive revulsion, she replies:
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«Yes, I forgive him for the love of Jesus, and I want him to come with me to paradise too. I want him to be by my side… May God forgive him, because I have already forgiven him»
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In the midst of those feelings, the same ones that Jesus Christ had on Calvary, Mary receives the Eucharist and Extreme Unction, serene, calm, humble in the heroism of her victory. The end is coming. She is heard saying:
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«Potato»
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Finally, after a last call to Mary, she enters the immense glory of paradise. It is July 6, 1902, at three in the afternoon. She had not turned twelve.
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the fate of his killer
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Alessandro’s trial takes place three months after the drama. Advised by his lawyer, he confesses:
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«I liked it. I provoked her twice to evil, but I couldn’t get anything. Out of spite, I prepared the dagger that she had to use»
He is sentenced to thirty years of hard labor. He appears to feel no remorse for the crime. Alessandro Serenelli, the murderer of Maria, served his sentence in the prison of Rome, and after his release, he entered a Capuchin convent in that city as a tertiary brother and doorman, where he died in 1970. He attributed his

In the hospital there is nothing to do. After a long and painful trip by ambulance, around eight at night, they arrive at the hospital. The doctors are surprised that the girl has not yet succumbed to her wounds, as her pericardium, heart, left lung, diaphragm, and intestine have been hit. Upon verifying that she has no cure, they send for the chaplain. Maria confesses with all lucidity. After her, the doctors lavish her care for two hours, without putting her to sleep. Mary does not lament, and she does not stop praying and offering her sufferings to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Sorrows. Her mother manages to allow her to stay at the head of the bed. Maria still has the strength to comfort her:
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«Mom, dear mom, I’m fine now… How are my brothers and sisters?»
Thirst devours Mary:.
,………

………….
«Mom, give me a drop of water»
,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,
«My poor Maria, the doctor doesn’t want to, because it would be worse for you»
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Surprised, Maria continues saying:.
…..
…….
«How is it possible that she can’t drink even a drop of water?»
……………………….
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Then, she directs her gaze on the crucified Jesus, who had also said I thirst!, and resigns herself. The hospital chaplain assists her paternally and, at the moment of giving her Holy Communion, he questions her:
–
—
«Maria, do you wholeheartedly forgive your murderer?»
……

….
Repressing an instinctive revulsion, she replies:
………

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«Yes, I forgive him for the love of Jesus, and I want him to come with me to paradise too. I want him to be by my side… May God forgive him, because I have already forgiven him»
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……
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In the midst of those feelings, the same ones that Jesus Christ had on Calvary, Mary receives the Eucharist and Extreme Unction, serene, calm, humble in the heroism of her victory. The end is coming. She is heard saying:
´…………
«Potato»

´´´´´´´´´´´
Finally, after a last call to Mary, she enters the immense glory of paradise. It is July 6, 1902, at three in the afternoon. She had not turned twelve.

…….
the fate of his killer
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Alessandro’s trial takes place three months after the drama. Advised by his lawyer, he confesses:
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«I liked it. I provoked her twice to evil, but I couldn’t get anything. Out of spite, I prepared the dagger that she had to use»

He is sentenced to thirty years of hard labor. He appears to feel no remorse for the crime. Alessandro Serenelli, the murderer of Maria, served his sentence in the prison of Rome, and after his release, he entered a Capuchin convent in that city as a tertiary brother and doorman, where he died in 1970. He attributed his

change of life to a dream that he had in jail several years after the murder; according to him:
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«He saw Maria in a dream with fourteen white lilies, one for each stab wound received; thanks to this he not only managed to reconcile with society, but also with the Goretti family, who expressly forgave him»
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Tradition tells that after a dream where Maria told him that he too could go to heaven. Serenelli changed completely by turning to God and offering his labors and sufferings in reparation for his sins. After 27 years in prison, he was released and went to ask for forgiveness from the saint’s mother, who not only forgave him but also defended him in public, claiming that if God and his daughter had forgiven him, she did not have to. not forgive him The fame of Maria Goretti spread more and more and signs of her holiness began to appear, which was the result of her closeness to God and her devotion to the Virgin Mary. After numerous studies, the Holy See canonized her on June 24, 1950 in a ceremony that had to be held in St. Peter’s Square, due to the number of attendees estimated at more than five hundred thousand people. Pius XII was accompanied at her canonization ceremony by her mother, two sisters and a brother of Mary. During this ceremony her Holiness Pius XII exalted the virtue of the saint and her scholars affirm that for the life she led even if she had not been a martyr she would have deserved to be declared a saint, she defined her «small and sweet martyr of purity».