Maria Goretti

(1890-1902)

Italian saint

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Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, and one of the youngest canonized saints. She was born to a farming family. Her father died when she was nine, and they had to share a house with another family, the Serenellis. Maria took over household duties while her mother, brothers, and sister worked in the fields. One afternoon, Alessandro, the Serenellis' son, made sexual advances to her. When she refused to submit to him, he stabbed her fourteen times. She was taken to hospital but died forgiving him. Sereneli was arrested, convicted, and jailed. After three years he repented, and when eventually released from prison, he visited her mother to beg forgiveness, which she granted. He later became a lay brother in a monastery, dying peacefully in 1970. She was beatified in 1947, and canonized in 1950.