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Martyrdom of
Saint Maria Goretti

Peter Caracci



Saint Maria Goretti
Scott 156-157 (1953)

50th Anniversary
Issued: 2/12/1953
Perforation: 13 ½ x 14
Value: L.15, L.35


July 6 marks the Feast of Saint Maria Goretti. The stamps shown above were issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death in 1902. The stories of this young saint, and that of her murderer, are remarkable.

Saint Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) came from a farming family. Her parents, Luigi and Assunta, were committed Catholics and belonged to a Passionist parish. Maria was the third child of 7 (one brother died as an infant). She was holy and self-giving in her demeanor as a child and young person. She always gave great care to her family. Her father died when she was 10 years old. After the death of her father, Maria took up more household and child rearing activities since her Mother now had to work the fields to provide the family with basic necessities of life.

Saint Maria was killed in a rape attempt by Alessandro Serenelli who was 20-year-old. She was not quite 12 years old. Her last hours of life were marked by a holiness of heart. She expressed concern for her mother, brothers and sisters. She welcomed receiving Holy Communion and stated before her death: “For the love of Jesus I forgive Alessandro...I want Alessandro close to me in heaven”.

Passionist Fr. Mauro Liberati advocated for her canonization. Pope Pius XII declared her “Blessed" on April 27, 1947 and then Saint on June 24, 1950.

The story behind the story is about the conversion of Alessandro Serenelli (June 2, 1882 – May 6, 1970), Saint Maria’s murderer. Serenelli was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder. For a long time, he was unrepentant and surly. One night he had a dream or vision of Saint Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him. As a result of this visitation he changed his life. After 27 years in prison, his first act was to go to beg the forgiveness of Assunta, Maria’s mother. Alessandro Serenellli died in 1970 in the Capuchin convent of Macerata, where he was a lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap).

Serenelli left the following testimony as his spiritual legacy:
“I’m 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 of 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 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.”
In the References below is information about the Serenelli Project Ministry. This is a prison re-entry ministry located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its mission statement begins:
“Our mission is specifically to provide strong Catholic community to individuals returning from incarceration or who simply have a criminal record history. They need to be repentant and willing. We work to provide all a person needs in body and soul to be rebuilt, repaired and restored in Christ”.


Ornamental Corner Blocks
Saint Maria Goretti Issue
Scott 156-157 (1953)


REFERENCES:
  • Serenelli Project Ministry, Cincinnati, Ohio, Serenelli Project
  • Giovanni Alberti C.P., PassionistNuns.org, Saint Maria Goretti,
  • Raymond P. Roden, AmericaMagazine.org, An Astounding Mercy: The conversion of the man who killed St. Maria Goretti
  • Wikipedia, Alessandro Serenelli