Death rather than sin !
God over sin and eternal joy over eternal damnation. Choose life! Choose to be a saint.
St. Maria Goretti is helping teenagers to preserve purity in the midst of daily temptations against that priceless virtue so neglected today throughout the world.
Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity.
h Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity.
In this day of widespread impurity among youngsters, it is good to know that a twelve-year-old girl fought against a sexual attack by a youth who planned carefully to seduce her. When she refused his advances he flew into a rage and fatally attacked her with a knife.
Her name is Maria Goretti, martyred in the beginning of XX century because she refused to commit an act of impurity with a young man named Alexander.
St. Maria Goretti and her Murderer, Alessandro
The story of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr, is a simple one. It can be told in a few words, and yet it involves a drama of awesome proportions, one repeated through the centuries. It is the story of an innocent young girl killed in an attempted rape but who gave extraordinary witness to that virtue of chastity which in our day is so misunderstood and even mocked and ridiculed.
The notion that we can commit sins and become guilty of moral wrongdoing does not sit well with citizens of the post-Enlightenment. It clashes with their self-esteem; it is unscientific, unmodern and unfashionable.
Yet throughout history the prevailing consensus has been that guilt is a natural response to one's deliberate and voluntary complicity in moral wrongdoing, and that man persists in suffering both in body and in soul when his guilt remains unconfessed and unatoned -Dr. Donald DeMarco
Let me die rather than commit a single sin against chastity.
It is also a story of the eternal conflict between the spirit of that world for which Christ would not pray, and between the values of the City of God whose inhabitants love God above all things and the City of man which is based on the inordinate love of self. It is a story of guilt and pardon and grace, and of the mercy of God. It is a story of the repentance and conversion of a murderer, and the latter's acceptance into the family of the young daughter whom he killed with 14 stab wounds, the last piercing her heart.
In this day of widespread impurity among youngsters, it is good to know that a twelve-year-old girl fought against a sexual attack by a youth who planned carefully to seduce her. When she refused his advances he flew into a rage and fatally attacked her with a knife.
Her name is Maria Goretti, martyred in the beginning of XX century because she refused to commit an act of impurity with a young man named Alexander.
Ferriere (near Nettuno): the house where Maria Goretti was assaulted by Alexander
He became furious over her refusal as she fled from the field where his first attack took place. Later that day she went to lunch with her family and her attacker but then slipped away to hide for several hours.
Her name is Maria Goretti, martyred in the beginning of XX century because she refused to commit an act of impurity with a young man named Alexander.
Ferriere (near Nettuno): the house where Maria Goretti was assaulted by Alexander
He became furious over her refusal as she fled from the field where his first attack took place. Later that day she went to lunch with her family and her attacker but then slipped away to hide for several hours.
For a whole week there was no trouble but then as she made the beds with none of the family in the house, he entered quietly from behind and grabbed her.
She fought him off and finally he quit, saying, "If you tell your mother I'll kill you!"
He left the room and she locked the door behind him and stayed there until her mother returned and scolded her for not preparing the meal. Alexander laughed loudly at her discomfort, since he had threatened to kill her if she told on him so she felt that silence was safer, but Alexander did not give up.
He followed her constantly, waiting and watching like the proverbial cat and mouse. His threat rang in her ears, constantly chilling her and yet prayer gave her confidence; God would not forsake her !
A few days later Alexander called out, "Maria, I have a torn shirt that needs mending. I shall need it to go to Mass tomorrow; I'm leaving it on my bed." Although she felt like refusing, true charity won out in her heart and she consented to be of service. Alexander went out to harness the team of oxen.
She fought him off and finally he quit, saying, "If you tell your mother I'll kill you!"
He left the room and she locked the door behind him and stayed there until her mother returned and scolded her for not preparing the meal. Alexander laughed loudly at her discomfort, since he had threatened to kill her if she told on him so she felt that silence was safer, but Alexander did not give up.
He followed her constantly, waiting and watching like the proverbial cat and mouse. His threat rang in her ears, constantly chilling her and yet prayer gave her confidence; God would not forsake her !
A few days later Alexander called out, "Maria, I have a torn shirt that needs mending. I shall need it to go to Mass tomorrow; I'm leaving it on my bed." Although she felt like refusing, true charity won out in her heart and she consented to be of service. Alexander went out to harness the team of oxen.
He drove back and forth on the threshing floor and then suddenly stopped and asked Maria's mother to take his place. "I forgot my kerchief - he explained -.I'll be right back."
Meanwhile Maria was seated on the porch above the kitchen door, mending Alexander's shirt. She recalled that tomorrow would be Sunday, the feast of the Precious Blood and said to herself, "We shall start early so that we can get to Confession and Communion."
Suddenly she hears Alexander coming up the stairs. He goes into the bedroom but then comes to the doorway and in a harsh voice calls, "Maria, come here!" As she responds, he grabs her and pulls her into the bedroom. He threatens her with a knife but she pulls herself free and screams for help but no one hears her.
She leaps behind the table for protection but he knocks it aside and trips her. "Are you going to give in or must I kill you?" he screams. Her only answer is a wild struggle to get away, twisting, screaming and biting, with gasps of "No, I will not!" He argues, "Why?" - "It is a sin, Alexander. You will go to hell!"
The brute in him takes over and he said, later, that something inside him seemed to snap and with mad rage he plunged the knife which he held, into her breast and abdomen. Thinking that she was dead, he threw the bloody knife into the closet, went to his room and locked the door.
When he failed to return, the mother became worried and sent Mariano to check. Shrieks from the room where Maria lay brought several persons up the stairs.
There was Maria on the floor, her clothing soaked in blood. The mother, assisted by another woman, removed the bloody dress and underwear, revealing gashes across her breast, stomach and all over the body.
The brute in him takes over and he said, later, that something inside him seemed to snap and with mad rage he plunged the knife which he held, into her breast and abdomen. Thinking that she was dead, he threw the bloody knife into the closet, went to his room and locked the door.
When he failed to return, the mother became worried and sent Mariano to check. Shrieks from the room where Maria lay brought several persons up the stairs.
There was Maria on the floor, her clothing soaked in blood. The mother, assisted by another woman, removed the bloody dress and underwear, revealing gashes across her breast, stomach and all over the body.
"Who did this to you?" the mother asked.
Maria whispered, "Alexander."
The mother gasped, "Alexander! But why?"
The answer came slowly in a weak voice, "Because he wanted to commit an awful sin and I would not."
Meanwhile there was much excitement outside. Domenico, a sharecropper, hitched up his cart and went for a doctor in the nearby town, spreading the horrible news along the way. A mob gathered in the yard. Then someone found the bloody knife.
The kitchen room where little Maria Goretti
chose death rather than sin
"Alexander," they cried. "Where is Alexander?"
They found his door locked and were planning to break it down when Count Mazzoleni came rushing in and suggested calling the police.
Finally the physician arrived and all were required to leave the room. The medic requested that an ambulance be summoned. It arrived four hours later by horses. Maria was growing weaker from loss of blood. Her mother took a position at her head while the brothers and sisters climbed in to kiss her goodbye. Then the wagon left, the physician riding with the driver.
Maria whispered, "Alexander."
The mother gasped, "Alexander! But why?"
The answer came slowly in a weak voice, "Because he wanted to commit an awful sin and I would not."
Meanwhile there was much excitement outside. Domenico, a sharecropper, hitched up his cart and went for a doctor in the nearby town, spreading the horrible news along the way. A mob gathered in the yard. Then someone found the bloody knife.
The kitchen room where little Maria Goretti
chose death rather than sin
"Alexander," they cried. "Where is Alexander?"
They found his door locked and were planning to break it down when Count Mazzoleni came rushing in and suggested calling the police.
Finally the physician arrived and all were required to leave the room. The medic requested that an ambulance be summoned. It arrived four hours later by horses. Maria was growing weaker from loss of blood. Her mother took a position at her head while the brothers and sisters climbed in to kiss her goodbye. Then the wagon left, the physician riding with the driver.
On the road, two mounted police hurried past dragging a handcuffed man on foot. It was Alexander, perspiring and covered with dust. Fortunately, Maria did not see the trio.
As the ambulance entered Nettuno a great crowd met them. News had spread like wildfire. They had gathered at the prison gate as the prisoner arrived amid threatening cries.
But at the hospital there was silent awe. The chaplain heard Maria's confession on the operating table. The medics found fourteen wounds on her body. In spite of the extreme pain as the wounds were treated without an anesthetic, Maria uttered no sound during the two hours.
Finally she lost consciousness, slowly recovering it. Her mother slipped away. During the night the girl moaned and uttered involuntary cries. In the morning she recalled nothing of her pain. When the chaplain came in he reminded her of how Jesus had pardoned His murderers and Maria said, "I too, pardon Alexander and wish that someday he join me in Heaven." The priest brought the Holy Viaticum to the patient whose eyes were filled with tears of joy.
During the next morning the police sergeant came to draw up formal charges against Alexander. Maria answered his questions briefly without showing the least resentment.
When they were alone again, the mother asked if Alexander had tried to seduce her at other times, and she said that he had threatened to kill her if she mentioned it adding, "But you see he killed me anyway."
Extreme Unction was administered and then for three hours she battled with an invisible enemy shouting, "Alexander let me go! No, no, you will go to hell! Mama, help!"
The last agony began about three o'clock that afternoon. A long gasp seemed to tear out her lungs, the light in her eyes went out as she breathed her last. It was July 6, 1902, the feast of the Precious Blood, a most appropriate day.
Meanwhile what was happening to Alexander? He was imprisoned temporarily in nearby Nettuno and then transferred to "Regina Coeli" prison in Rome to stand trial. After strenuously denying his guilt he finally broke down in the face of overwhelming testimony claiming insanity, but the doctors proved him sane.
However, since he was a minor he was sentenced to only thirty years at hard labor.
The shrine - Basilica of Our Lady of Grace
where her body is the center of the shrine
Later a priest came to see him and he turned on the cleric in a rage, howling like a maniac and lunging at him. "Soon, Alexander, you will want me - the priest said - Maria will see to that."
"Never - the prisoner screamed - I'll never want you, never!" In the days which followed he lost his appetite and grew nervous.
As the ambulance entered Nettuno a great crowd met them. News had spread like wildfire. They had gathered at the prison gate as the prisoner arrived amid threatening cries.
But at the hospital there was silent awe. The chaplain heard Maria's confession on the operating table. The medics found fourteen wounds on her body. In spite of the extreme pain as the wounds were treated without an anesthetic, Maria uttered no sound during the two hours.
Finally she lost consciousness, slowly recovering it. Her mother slipped away. During the night the girl moaned and uttered involuntary cries. In the morning she recalled nothing of her pain. When the chaplain came in he reminded her of how Jesus had pardoned His murderers and Maria said, "I too, pardon Alexander and wish that someday he join me in Heaven." The priest brought the Holy Viaticum to the patient whose eyes were filled with tears of joy.
During the next morning the police sergeant came to draw up formal charges against Alexander. Maria answered his questions briefly without showing the least resentment.
When they were alone again, the mother asked if Alexander had tried to seduce her at other times, and she said that he had threatened to kill her if she mentioned it adding, "But you see he killed me anyway."
Extreme Unction was administered and then for three hours she battled with an invisible enemy shouting, "Alexander let me go! No, no, you will go to hell! Mama, help!"
The last agony began about three o'clock that afternoon. A long gasp seemed to tear out her lungs, the light in her eyes went out as she breathed her last. It was July 6, 1902, the feast of the Precious Blood, a most appropriate day.
Meanwhile what was happening to Alexander? He was imprisoned temporarily in nearby Nettuno and then transferred to "Regina Coeli" prison in Rome to stand trial. After strenuously denying his guilt he finally broke down in the face of overwhelming testimony claiming insanity, but the doctors proved him sane.
However, since he was a minor he was sentenced to only thirty years at hard labor.
The shrine - Basilica of Our Lady of Grace
where her body is the center of the shrine
Later a priest came to see him and he turned on the cleric in a rage, howling like a maniac and lunging at him. "Soon, Alexander, you will want me - the priest said - Maria will see to that."
"Never - the prisoner screamed - I'll never want you, never!" In the days which followed he lost his appetite and grew nervous.
Alexander wrote a complete confession, asking God pardon.
The Dream was remarkable. Alessandro had never dreamed in his sleep. All he knew was that this dream of Marietta had opened up the gate of his interior world and exposed him to the light of God's grace and mercy. From that time on, he was consumed to make reparation for his awful crime and sin.
After 27 years of imprisonment, Alessandro was released. He was spared 3 years of confinement due to being a model prisoner. After various wanderings as a farm laborer, he was to spend the rest of his life living in a Capuchin monastery at Macerata. There the good Capuchins called him "brother". In the chapel of the monastery Alessandro was able to attend daily Mass and to find peace and solitude. He was to visit Assunta Goretti, whom he had last seen 31 years before at his trial. Begging Assunta's forgiveness, she placed her hands on his head, caressed his face and gently said, "Alessandro, Marietta 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." (DiDon ato, p. 142) ......
Alexander wrote a complete confession, asking God pardon.
After serving his sentence he took up residence at a Capuchin monastery, working in the garden as a tertiary.
He asked pardon of Maria's mother and accompanied her to the Christmas Mass in the parish church where he spoke before the hushed congregation, acknowledging his sin and asking God's forgiveness and the pardon of the people.
Forty years later, June 24, 1950, they both attended the canonization of Maria Goretti by Pope
After 27 years of imprisonment, Alessandro was released. He was spared 3 years of confinement due to being a model prisoner. After various wanderings as a farm laborer, he was to spend the rest of his life living in a Capuchin monastery at Macerata. There the good Capuchins called him "brother". In the chapel of the monastery Alessandro was able to attend daily Mass and to find peace and solitude. He was to visit Assunta Goretti, whom he had last seen 31 years before at his trial. Begging Assunta's forgiveness, she placed her hands on his head, caressed his face and gently said, "Alessandro, Marietta 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." (DiDon ato, p. 142) ......
Alexander wrote a complete confession, asking God pardon.
After serving his sentence he took up residence at a Capuchin monastery, working in the garden as a tertiary.
He asked pardon of Maria's mother and accompanied her to the Christmas Mass in the parish church where he spoke before the hushed congregation, acknowledging his sin and asking God's forgiveness and the pardon of the people.
Forty years later, June 24, 1950, they both attended the canonization of Maria Goretti by Pope
Pius XII in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Today her body is the center of a shrine in Nettuno, near her home, in the basilica of Our Lady of Grace, patroness of youth.
Maria Goretti is helping teenagers to preserve purity in the midst of daily temptations against that priceless virtue so neglected today throughout the world......
Pius XII who would beatify the 11 year-old martyr in 1947 and then canonize her on June 24, 1950, noted that St. Maria Goretti stood not only for purity of soul and body but also for "mastery of the spiritual over the material, for docile love of her parents, for sacrifice in harsh, daily labor, for poverty accepted as the Gospel teaches us to accept it, for love of prayer and of Jesus in the Eucharist, for charity in her heroic forgiveness [of her murderer]."
Maria's own mother,Assunta, who lived a life of grinding poverty, but who gave Maria such excellent example in never missing Mass and in observing the commandments and teachings of the Church, declared soon after the tragedy: "My God, I was not worthy to have such an angel!" Everyone on the farm agreed that the child allowed herself to be killed rather than yield to temptation. All remembered her goodness, her uprightness, and regretted her sad end.
Maria's dear friend and companion, Theresa Cimarelli, bore witness to Maria's blameless life, and to her modesty, reserve, and simple dignity: "She was truly a girl brought up from childhood to please Our Lord." Alessandro Serenelli, a murderer at 20 years of age, was to give his own testimony to the virtue of the young Catholic girl who sacrificed her life to preserve her virginity. Years later, after his conversion and having spent 27 years in prison, he was to confirm the verdict of the thousands who already regarded her as a Saint of God: "Maria Goretti is really a saint, a martyr. How many times at night, when I cannot sleep, I begin to think, 'If there are martyrs in Paradise, she is the first among them -- after all I did to her.'"
With Maria Goretti, we will also see the eruption of the supernatural in the lives of those who were captivated by the drama of her life and death and her extraordinary fortitude. For God would give the seal of His own divine approval on her sacrifical death offered for the love of God and in hatred of sin. Remarkable miracles and cures were to follow that would assure the devotion of Catholics world-wide to the child-saint. Only one such miracle is recounted here. It was that of a little girl Stefania Zuccari, two years old, who lived on the Via Illiria in Rome. She had been seriously ill with heart trouble afflicting her from birth. Stefanie was taken by her parents to a solemn Triduum of Prayer held at the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, where the remains of St. Maria Goretti had been taken. When the little girl was lifted up to touch the urn containing the body of the martyr, she was instantly cured to the amazement of the doctors who examined her.
But no miracle was to be greater than the conversion of her murderer! It was an astonishing sequel to the drama of a would-be rapist who was sentenced to 30 years of prison. Unrepentent, showing no remorse for his awful crime, Alessandro would undergo a remarkable change. This was to occur after a remarkable dream he had during his 8th year of imprisonment.
"The dream was so vivid he could not distinguish it from reality. The prison bars and walls fell away and his cell was a sunlit garden blooming with flowers. Towards him came a beautiful girl dressed in pure white. He said to himself: 'How is this? Peasant girls wear darkish clothes.'
Today her body is the center of a shrine in Nettuno, near her home, in the basilica of Our Lady of Grace, patroness of youth.
Maria Goretti is helping teenagers to preserve purity in the midst of daily temptations against that priceless virtue so neglected today throughout the world......
Pius XII who would beatify the 11 year-old martyr in 1947 and then canonize her on June 24, 1950, noted that St. Maria Goretti stood not only for purity of soul and body but also for "mastery of the spiritual over the material, for docile love of her parents, for sacrifice in harsh, daily labor, for poverty accepted as the Gospel teaches us to accept it, for love of prayer and of Jesus in the Eucharist, for charity in her heroic forgiveness [of her murderer]."
Maria's own mother,Assunta, who lived a life of grinding poverty, but who gave Maria such excellent example in never missing Mass and in observing the commandments and teachings of the Church, declared soon after the tragedy: "My God, I was not worthy to have such an angel!" Everyone on the farm agreed that the child allowed herself to be killed rather than yield to temptation. All remembered her goodness, her uprightness, and regretted her sad end.
Maria's dear friend and companion, Theresa Cimarelli, bore witness to Maria's blameless life, and to her modesty, reserve, and simple dignity: "She was truly a girl brought up from childhood to please Our Lord." Alessandro Serenelli, a murderer at 20 years of age, was to give his own testimony to the virtue of the young Catholic girl who sacrificed her life to preserve her virginity. Years later, after his conversion and having spent 27 years in prison, he was to confirm the verdict of the thousands who already regarded her as a Saint of God: "Maria Goretti is really a saint, a martyr. How many times at night, when I cannot sleep, I begin to think, 'If there are martyrs in Paradise, she is the first among them -- after all I did to her.'"
With Maria Goretti, we will also see the eruption of the supernatural in the lives of those who were captivated by the drama of her life and death and her extraordinary fortitude. For God would give the seal of His own divine approval on her sacrifical death offered for the love of God and in hatred of sin. Remarkable miracles and cures were to follow that would assure the devotion of Catholics world-wide to the child-saint. Only one such miracle is recounted here. It was that of a little girl Stefania Zuccari, two years old, who lived on the Via Illiria in Rome. She had been seriously ill with heart trouble afflicting her from birth. Stefanie was taken by her parents to a solemn Triduum of Prayer held at the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, where the remains of St. Maria Goretti had been taken. When the little girl was lifted up to touch the urn containing the body of the martyr, she was instantly cured to the amazement of the doctors who examined her.
But no miracle was to be greater than the conversion of her murderer! It was an astonishing sequel to the drama of a would-be rapist who was sentenced to 30 years of prison. Unrepentent, showing no remorse for his awful crime, Alessandro would undergo a remarkable change. This was to occur after a remarkable dream he had during his 8th year of imprisonment.
"The dream was so vivid he could not distinguish it from reality. The prison bars and walls fell away and his cell was a sunlit garden blooming with flowers. Towards him came a beautiful girl dressed in pure white. He said to himself: 'How is this? Peasant girls wear darkish clothes.'
But he saw it was Marietta. She was walking among flowers, smiling, and without the least fear. He wanted to flee from her but could not. Marietta picked white lilies and handed them to him saying, 'Alessandro, take them!' He accepted the lilies, one by one, fourteen of them. But a strange thing took place. As he received them from her fingers, the lilies did not remain lilies but changed into so many flaming lights. There was a lily turned to purifying flame for every one of the 14 mortal blows he struck her on the fatal day in Ferriere. Marietta said smilingly, 'Alessandro, as I have promised, your soul shall someday reach me in heaven.'
"Contentment entered his breast. And the scene of incredible beauty dissolved in silence. When he awoke, it seemed that the rabid, choking, consuming feelings of hate, destruction, and bitterness that ruled within him were loosening their invisible bonds from his mind and flesh." ("The Penitent" by Pietro DiDonato- Hawthorne Books, N.Y., 1962; pages 109-110)
After 27 years of imprisonment, Alessandro was released. He was spared 3 years of confinement due to being a model prisoner. After various wanderings as a farm laborer, he was to spend the rest of his life living in a Capuchin monastery at Macerata. There the good Capuchins called him "brother". In the chapel of the monastery Alessandro was able to attend daily Mass and to find peace and solitude. He was to visit Assunta Goretti, whom he had last seen 31 years before at his trial. Begging Assunta's forgiveness, she placed her hands on his head, caressed his face and gently said, "Alessandro, Marietta 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." (DiDon ato, p. 142)
"The next morning people in the village of Corinaldo witnessed what could only happen among the poor of Christ. Assunta Goretti, with head held high and tears falling, took Alessandro Serenelli by the hand as a mother takes a son, and led him to Mass. At the altar rail side by side, she and he- he who had killed her daughter- raised their open mouths to partake of the flesh and blood of Jesus." (DiDonato, pages 142-146) From that time he was welcomed in that profoundly Christian family of the Gorettis as "Uncle Alessandro".
Alessandro would testify at length at the canonical process for the beatification of Maria Goretti- the only witness who could detail what had actually happened in a brutal murder. He died at the age of 89 after a long life of prayer and penance in expiation of his crime, always invoking the intercession of St. Maria Goretti as his "protector".
It was a remarkable scene on June 24, 1950 at the canonization of St. Maria Goretti in the open Piazza of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. "Never before had a million souls come to St. Peter's Basilica all at one time, nor in Catholic history had there ever been present at the ceremony of canonization the mother of the Saint." (Di Donato)
It was her love of Christ that led Maria Goretti to the heights of sanctity and salvaged the soul of Alessandro. It is the same Catholic Faith that continues to raise the standard of Christian purity and love in a re-paganized world. Maria suffered death for Jesus on the threshold of the century which would see more martyrs than all the preceding Christian centuries collectively. The Church, as Pope John Paul II has repeatedly reminded the world, never loses touch with martyrdom. She teaches unequivocally that no one will enter heaven who is not ready to die for Christ if the hour demands it. It is the definite meaning of the greatest of Christ's commandments: to love God above all things, more than life itself. The lifeblood of Maria Goretti shed in the most murderous century in the history of mankind, was a warning that with increasing godlessness, the despising of virginity and marriage, the current contempt for motherhood, and the diminishing of the authority of fathers, the family would suffer a shocking disintegration- a process that we see all around us today as we enter the Third Millennium. It is undeniable that in what stands for American and European culture today, children are bombarded and sometimes overwhelmed by a tidal wave of evil influences which social commentators note is unprecedented in history.
Today the example and witness of St. Maria Goretti can give both youth and adults inspiration and hope as the Church moves into its Third Millennium of evangelization.
"The next morning people in the village of Corinaldo witnessed what could only happen among the poor of Christ. Assunta Goretti, with head held high and tears falling, took Alessandro Serenelli by the hand as a mother takes a son, and led him to Mass. At the altar rail side by side, she and he- he who had killed her daughter- raised their open mouths to partake of the flesh and blood of Jesus." (DiDonato, pages 142-146) From that time he was welcomed in that profoundly Christian family of the Gorettis as "Uncle Alessandro".
Alessandro would testify at length at the canonical process for the beatification of Maria Goretti- the only witness who could detail what had actually happened in a brutal murder. He died at the age of 89 after a long life of prayer and penance in expiation of his crime, always invoking the intercession of St. Maria Goretti as his "protector".
It was a remarkable scene on June 24, 1950 at the canonization of St. Maria Goretti in the open Piazza of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. "Never before had a million souls come to St. Peter's Basilica all at one time, nor in Catholic history had there ever been present at the ceremony of canonization the mother of the Saint." (Di Donato)
It was her love of Christ that led Maria Goretti to the heights of sanctity and salvaged the soul of Alessandro. It is the same Catholic Faith that continues to raise the standard of Christian purity and love in a re-paganized world. Maria suffered death for Jesus on the threshold of the century which would see more martyrs than all the preceding Christian centuries collectively. The Church, as Pope John Paul II has repeatedly reminded the world, never loses touch with martyrdom. She teaches unequivocally that no one will enter heaven who is not ready to die for Christ if the hour demands it. It is the definite meaning of the greatest of Christ's commandments: to love God above all things, more than life itself. The lifeblood of Maria Goretti shed in the most murderous century in the history of mankind, was a warning that with increasing godlessness, the despising of virginity and marriage, the current contempt for motherhood, and the diminishing of the authority of fathers, the family would suffer a shocking disintegration- a process that we see all around us today as we enter the Third Millennium. It is undeniable that in what stands for American and European culture today, children are bombarded and sometimes overwhelmed by a tidal wave of evil influences which social commentators note is unprecedented in history.
Today the example and witness of St. Maria Goretti can give both youth and adults inspiration and hope as the Church moves into its Third Millennium of evangelization.