Reflection: Saint Maria Goretti, Little Saint of Mercy + Fidelity + Fortitude + Forgiveness

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Maria Goretti. She was born in 1890 in Corinaldi, Italy. Saint Pope John Paul II often spoke of her virtues and example of fidelity and forgiveness. In a Homily commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the her birth, he emphasized her importance for the troubled times we live in. She listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit coming from the voice of her conscience. The Holy Spirit gave her fortitude (courage). When she was unable to defend her virginal purity, she chose death.

Maria had complete fidelity in God. Through the witness of her life, she helps us remember that we are called to offer ourselves to the Father. This young martyr reveals to us our call to holiness and is a model for adolescents and young people. She had a pure heart and she kept her body pure. Through her life, we see how to be unafraid, to take a stand against our culture and to be courageous witnesses by love, purity and virginity.

Maria was a silent witness of heroic virtue. Before she died, she forgave her attacker, Allesandro. He was sent to prison for her death. One night, Maria appeared to him in his prison cell and smiled at him. She was surrounded by lilies, the flower symbolic of purity. From that moment, he was converted and his heart was filled with peace. After serving his sentence, he lived in a Capuchin monastery, working in the garden. He asked forgiveness of Maria's mother and he went with her to Christmas Mass. There, he acknowledged his sin and asked forgiveness from God and the community. Forty years later, on June 24, 1950, Maria was canonized at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Alessandro's heart was converted, a miraculous fruit of Maria's life of forgiveness!

Have you been hurt by someone and been unable to forgive? Ask Saint Maria Goretti to help you have a forgiving heart, as she did. Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and open your heart to the priest. Jesus is there waiting for you and He will help you forgive. Pray for the person who hurt you. When you pray, God changes your heart and He gives you a forgiving heart and He fills your mind and your heart with love and peace. 

Official Prayer to Saint Maria Goretti
"Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth, with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven. Amen."

My Jesus, as you gave Saint Maria Goretti the crown of martyrdom, help us to be unafraid and to be faithful to your teachings of fidelity and forgiveness with her courageous witness.