Maria Goretti

Praise be to the one God the Most Holy Trinity, and let honor be given to the Blessed Mother and all the Saints. 

How blessed are we to hear Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners, and calling Matthew to follow him.  As soon as Matthew heard the divine invitation, he left his customs post and followed Jesus to be one of the Apostles.  Some members of the crowd begin to bicker, but Jesus taught them the important lesson of forgiveness: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”    

The Saint that we honor today, Maria Goretti, convey the power of forgiveness.  Just like other saints who have gone before her, the merciful Stephen the Martyr, and many others who embrace the forgiveness message of Jesus: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  They forgave their persecutors.  The young Italian Maria Goretti can also teach us about forgiveness and mercy. 

A little over 100 years ago, her saintly story began when a boy in her neighborhood wanted to take advantage of her; but she refused.  Feeling rejected, he regretfully took a knife and sadly stabbed her 11 times. Near death, she was taken to a hospital, but there was little hope.  Halfway through the surgery, she awoke and the surgeon said to her: “Maria, think of me in paradise.” She looked at him and said: “Well, who knows which of us is going there first.” “You”, he replied. Maria responds: “Then I will gladly think of you.”  Before Maria died, she expressed forgiveness for the neighbor boy and expressed in prayer that she wanted him to be in heaven with her. She died while looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Her murderer named Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. For a long time he was unrepentant.  But 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.  Maria’s mother also practiced forgiveness for she said: “If my daughter forgave you, who am I to withhold forgiveness.”

Devotion to the young martyr grew, miracles were worked, and in less than half a century she was canonized. At her beatification in 1947, her mother, two sisters and a brother appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. Three years later, at her canonization, a 66-year-old Alessandro knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy.

Although Maria was very young (12 when she died) she has much to teach about forgiveness. Forgiveness is when we express a great desire for all the people we know (including those who offend us) to be in heaven with God.  Think about someone that you dislike, or at odds with. pray to God that they will join you in heaven.  Jesus said: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”