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St. Maria Goretti (1890-1902) is a virgin martyr who, at the time of her canonization by Pope Pius XII on 24 June, 1950, was the youngest canonized saint. Pius named her “the Saint Agnes of the 20th Century,” a reference to the Roman consecrated Virgin (age 13) who was run through with a sword during the persecutions of Diocletian (ca.305). St. Agnes is recalled in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Maria Goretti was the third of seven children, from a poor peasant farming family, who at the time of her martyrdom lived near Le Ferriere di Conca, near Latina in Lazio. Their home was a building shared with another family that included a son, Alessandro Serenelli. Because her father died in 1901, Maria oversaw her younger siblings while her mother and older children worked in the fields. Serenellli pestered Maria (age 12) and when she resisted, on 5 July, 1902 he attempted to rape her. She resisted and was stabbed multiple times, telling her attacker he was committing a mortal sin against God. She forgave her assailant on her death bed, also expressing concern for her Mother’s future, and welcoming the Viaticum in the final hours of her life. Serenelli was imprisoned for 30 years and released after 27 years. Maria’s mother and Serenelli witnessed her canonization. Serenelli became a Franciscan lay brother and served in a monastery as a gardener and receptionist to visitors. VPS Member, Peter Caracci submitted a commentary he added to his Vatican City stamp album regarding the remarkable story of Alessandro Serenelli: “For a long time he (Serenelli) was unrepentant and surly. One night he had a dream or vision of Maria, gathering flowers and offering them to him. His life changed. When he was released after 27 years, his first act was to go to beg the forgiveness of Maria’s mother. Alessandro Serenelli died on May 6th, 1970 in the Capuchin convent of Macerata. He left the following testimony, dated May 5, 1961, as his spiritual legacy: “I am nearly 80 years old. I’m about to depart. Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself. My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried. There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life. When I was 20 years old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed. If I had been of age, I would have spent all of my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault. Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society. The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I’ve been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta. I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children. I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life.” - Alessandro Serenelli. References: • David Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of Saints • Gloria Romanorum, "The Confession of Alessandro Serenelli" Article Links: • Anonymous, "St. Maria Goretti" Vatican Notes, Vol. 6, No. 4, p. 6 (1958) • James C Hamilton, "St. Maria Goretti, Virgin-Martyr" Vatican Notes, Vol. 66, No. 376, pp. 46-47 (2018) | ||||||
