Born in Coronado, Italy in 1890, she was the third of seven children. Her parents, Luigi and Assunta, already poor, lost their farm and were forced into migrant labor. 

When she was about nine the family moved to a small town about fifty miles outside of Rome where they could work the fields of other farmers while sharing a home with another family which included Giovanni Saranelli and his son, Alessandro. 

Maria did not work in the fields. While the rest of the family went out, she stayed home, attending to the house and watching her younger sister, Theresa. 

On July 15, 1905, she was sitting on the steps of her home, mending one of Alessandro’s shirts while he worked in the barn. Allesandro returned from the barn and tried to rape Maria but she fought back, telling him what he was doing was a mortal sin. 

In anger, he choked and stabbed her fourteen times before running off. 

Taken to the hospital, it was clear Maria would not survive the attack. In her last hour, she told the family she had been afraid of him but didn’t want to disturb them and that she forgave Alessandro and hoped he would go to heaven. 

Sentenced to prison, Alessandro was unrepentant for many years until one night, in a dream, he had a vision of Maria gathering flowers and giving them to him. 

From that point on, he changed and when he was released after 27 of his 30 years, he went immediately to Maria’s family to beg for their forgiveness. 

Meanwhile, devotion to Maria grew. Miracles were attributed to her, and when she was beatified by Pope Pius XII, Alessandro was among the 250 thousand people in attendance along with her mother, two sisters and a brother. 

In 1950, 500 thousand came to her Canonization. 

On that day Pope Pius XII called Maria the St. Agnes of the 20th Century. 

St. Maria Goretti, please pray for us.