St MARIA GORETTI

In the days when young people found the Church attractive, before the 'scholars' came along and drove them out, there was a great deal of interest in an 11 year old Italian Girl who had died defending her purity.  Her name was Maria Goretti.   For some time a 21 year old neighbour Alessandro had been trying to seduce her but she had resisted.  Eventually he caught her alone in her house.  He attacked her and she struggled and pleaded "Alessandro, if you do this you will go to hell"   She continued to fight and eventually he took a knee and stabbed her 14 times.   Later in hospital as she was dying Maria was asked about Alessandro.  She replied "I forgive him and I want him to be in Heaven"   Alessandro was imprisoned and told people that it was Maria who attacked him and she was a slut.  Then one night he had a dream.   He saw Maria coming towards him with a bunch of 14 Lillies.   She gave them to him one by one, a forgiveness for each stab wound.    Alessandro woke up a repentant and changed man telling everyone what he had done to this innocent little girl.   Later when he was released from Jail he knocked a door of a parish house and it was opened by a lady.  She looked at Alessandro.   He asked "Do you know who I am"   "Yes" she replied "you are the man who killed my daughter Maria, but Maria has forgiven you, God has forgiven you, and now I forgive you"  From then on Alessandro became a son to her and they stood side by side in St Peter's as Pope Pius XII, made her a saint of the Catholic Church.

It is sad that in an age of sexual revolution when so many young girls are raped that people should question why Maria was made a saint.   "She died resisting rape" one woman said " but does that mean when I was cruelly raped that I was somehow at fault for not resisting?"   But let us look further into the story.   Maria was concerned as much about him as herself.  "If you do this you will go to Hell" she cried out.  And even when she was dying she was concerned about him.  "I hope I will see him in Heaven"   Then there is Maria's mother adopting as her son a repentant Alessandro.    It is a story of concern for another and heroic forgiveness.   In these days of sexual permissiveness when girls are almost expected to give their virtue how badly are they hurt when they are used and abused.  And what of the boy who did it, does he look at an object of sex and not give a damn about a life he could be destroying?    There are many of us who have to put away excuses and ask forgiveness for the lives woman have injured or even destroyed just to satisfy ourselves.                                                                                    


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