Little Saint of Great Mercy, Intercede for Us

There is an example of a farming awl on display where St. Maria Goretti’s remains are kept. That’s the weapon the enraged Alessandro Serenelli employed in stabbing her 14 times when she fought off his attempts to assault her. I remember feeling shocked at how dull this farming tool appeared when I visited her crypt in Nettuno. The furious blows of the large man close to twice the age of the 11-year-old Maria must have been powerful indeed to puncture her little body.

The doctor at the time was afraid to sedate her because she had already lost too much blood, so Maria was conscious and without anesthesia while he attempted to suture her stabbing wounds. No cries or protests escaped her lips. She died the following day from infection, but not before forgiving Alessandro and expressing the desire to be with him in heaven forever.

Given the violence of Alessandro during his first years in prison, he was kept away from the other prisoners. That was until Maria appeared to him in a dream, handing him 14 white lilies, one for each wound he inflicted upon her. From then on, peace entered his soul, and he was a completely changed man.

Maria’s widowed mother, Assunta, was unable to work and also take care of her children (Maria had stayed home to cook, clean and take care of the youngest child), so she was forced to give up her other five children to adoption within a week after her daughter was murdered. She had been robbed of her entire family. Nevertheless, when Alessandro sought her forgiveness close to 30 years later, Assunta not only forgave him, but welcomed him into her home. They attended Christmas mass together the next day, where Alessandro apologized to the congregation.

For the Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2015, the remains of St. Maria Goretti were sent on tour in the United States. “Over 253,000 people came to venerate St. Maria. There were countless healings and miracles.” There is a Facebook page filled with these stories called Pilgrimage of Mercy: Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti. Fr. Carlos Martins, who conducted the tour of the “Patroness of Mercy” attested to the many physical miracles taking place through St. Maria’s intercession as well as the thousands of women who experienced the capacity to forgive their rapists.

Alessandro had sought to satisfy a passing desire by violating St. Maria Goretti. The cost was her life in fending him off. In return, by her intercession it seems that she obtained for him the grace of eternal peace and happiness. We witness here how purity is tied to the ability to truly be a gift-of-self. Pope St. John Paul II articulates that reciprocity in Theology of the Body: “The satisfaction of the passions is, in fact, one thing, quite another is the joy a person finds in possessing himself more fully, since in this way he can also become more fully a true gift for another person” (TOB 58:7).

Despite her youth, St. Maria maintained her purity under extreme pressure and succeeded in forgiving her murderer. Her example of great mercy still impresses us today, and even more fortuitous, she still speaks for us today, obtaining miracles through her loving intercession. What if all of us forgave the way St. Goretti and her mother did, in a culture that tells us to “cancel” or go “no contact” with those who offend, hurt or even disagree with us?

St. Maria Goretti, please intercede on our behalf to help us to forgive those who have harmed us or wish to hurt us, as we ask for the Lord’s pardon of all whom we have transgressed against. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
(FYI: On campus, at the Ruah Woods Institute’s chapel, where we pray daily, host masses each month, as well as adoration weekly, we have a relic of St. Maria Goretti on the altar).

Written by,
Dr. Joan Kingsland*,
Fellow & Theological Consultant
for Ruah Woods Institute

*Joan Kingsland SThD, has been a member of the Society of Apostolic Life, the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi since 1993. She earned licentiate and doctoral degrees in moral theology at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Rome, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from Thomas Aquinas College, and a Master of Arts degree from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. She taught moral theology and Catechetics at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati from 2016-2018, moral theology at Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island from 2006-2015, and Catholic Faith Formation, grades 5-10 at the Highlands School in Dallas, Texas from 2002-2006. During the academic year she resides in Rome and teaches the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church at Regina Apostolorum Seminary, and in the summer returns to Cincinnati to work in person at Ruah Woods Institute to help in developing curriculum, training, and formation for educators K-12 to become witnesses and passionately understand and teach Theology of the Body to their students.