Maria Goretti was only twelve years old when she died, but the story of this young Italian girl has touched the hearts of Catholics everywhere for over one hundred years. Maria’s parents were hard working tenant farmers who raised crops on land they rented from a wealthy owner. They shared the land and the barn they lived in with another family—a father and his son. The son’s name was Alessandro.
Maria was afraid of Alessandro. He had tried to kiss and touch her. Maria stopped him. She knew that God calls us to live the virtue of chastity by respecting and honoring our gift of sexuality. Maria wanted to keep her purity. Alessandro was angry. He threatened to kill her. After that, Maria avoided Alessandro and never stayed alone in the barn.
One day, Alessandro tricked Maria. He came back to the barn after he had left. He dragged her into one of the stalls that had been made into a bedroom. Maria pushed him away. He took out a knife and stabbed her fourteen times. Maria died the next day after telling her mother she forgave Alessandro. She received Holy Communion before she died.
At his trial, Alessandro was found guilty and sentenced to thirty years in prison. At first, he was angry, but soon he began to feel sorrow for his terrible sin. He changed the way he acted and began to treat people in kindly ways. When he was released from prison, the first thing he did was to go to Maria’s mother to beg forgiveness.
Maria was canonized a saint in 1950. Both Maria’s mother and Alessandro attended the ceremony in Rome. Like Maria, we can live the Sixth Commandment by respecting our bodies and sharing our love and friendship properly, as God calls us to do.
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