St. Maria Goretti and Her Attacker

St. Maria Goretti was just eleven when she offered her life to Christ in the name of purity and true love. Many Catholics know her story. She was brutally stabbed fourteen times for refusing to compromise her precious virginity with the twenty-year-old Alessandro Serenelli. This attack was years in the making, for wounded people often lash out.

Alessandro’s unstable mother tried to drown him at the age of three. His father neglected him, and thus Alessandro grew up in a cold, heartless home. And so, Alessandro numbed his loneliness and rejection with pornographic magazines. He had tried to make a few advances at Maria before that faithful summer day. During her agony, Maria worried only about Alessandro’s soul as she cried out: “No, Alessandro. What are you doing, Alessandro? Alessandro, you do not know what you are doing. It is not you who are doing this. You will go to Hell. It is a sin. God does not wish this!”

Dressed in pure white, she handed him fourteen lilies to signify each of her stab wounds. Each lily transformed into a beautiful flame. And then Maria said the words that melted his hardened heart of stone

Years later, Maria appeared to Alessandro in prison. Dressed in pure white, she handed him fourteen lilies to signify each of her stab wounds. Each lily transformed into a beautiful flame. And then Maria said the words that melted his hardened heart of stone: “Alessandro, as I have promised, your soul shall someday reach me in Heaven.”

Alessandro quickly became a changed man and repented of his sins. When the bishop of Noto came to visit soon after, Alessandro said, “I want to cast myself upon God’s mercy. I want to beg pardon from the family of her whom I destroyed. I want to go on hands and knees before Assunta Goretti and her children for what I have done.”

Maria’s forgiveness had changed a soul likely destined for Hell to one that had thrown itself upon the mercy of God. Pornography and despair are highways to Hell, just as purity and mercy are the pathways to Heaven. Pornography can turn us into monsters if we allow it, as seen in the life of Alessandro. Unfortunately, pornography can often lead to violence towards others.

Our homes have the potential to produce great saints or great sinners. In this month of July dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus, let us remember that Jesus poured out every drop of His blood so that we might have eternal life. Sometimes He calls certain souls like St. Maria Goretti to follow suit and be martyrs of purity.