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| Goretti, Maria |
The Question Box moderator suggests to Becky May Tipover that if the boy she tattled on to Sister Oza tries to cut her throat with a ruler to "emulate St. St. Maria Goretti by forgiving him, preferably with your last breath" [St. Fidgeta & Other Parodies, 49].
Goretti (1890-1902) was born in Corinaldo, Italy and mortally wounded by her neighbor, 20-year-old Alessandro Serenelli, who attacked her with intent to sexually abuse her. In 1950, Goretti was declared the Patron Saint of Modern Youth by Pope Pius XII, the youngest officially recognized Roman Catholic saint ever, with her mother and her murderer in attendance at the canonization ceremony. Alessandro Serenelli died in 1970.
Myers says, "With Goretti's last breath she forgave Serenelli, who repented his crime. After serving his sentence he became a janitor in the church Goretti had attended."
"Indeed a real person that many Catholic women of my acquaintance got pretty sick of hearing about from the nuns in school," says Bowen. "She died defending her chastity rather than yield to the attacker and was, of course, held up to Catholic schoolgirls as a model to imitate in case they ever found themselves in the same situation. I don't remember hearing the detail about forgiving him with her last breath, but there is no reason to doubt it." |
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goretti |
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