Miracle Prayer to Saint Maria Goretti
Heroic and angelic Saint Maria Goretti,
we kneel before you to honor your
persevering fortitude and to beg
your gracious aid.
Teach us a deep love for the precepts
of our Holy Church;
help us to see in them the very voice
of our Father in Heaven.
May we preserve without stain
our white baptismal robe of innocence.
May we who have lost this innocence
kneel humbly in Holy Penance;
and with the absolution of the priest
may the torrent of Christ’s precious Blood
flow into our souls and give us new courage
to carry the burning light of God’s love
through the dangerous highways of this life
until Christ our King shall call us to the
courts of Heaven.
Amen.
About St. Maria Goretti
St. Maria Goretti was born in Corinaldo, Italy in 1890. Her parents, Luigi and Assunta, had seven children; the oldest dying when he was only a few months old. When the small farm they lived on could no longer support their family, they moved to the small town of Nettuno and joined with Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro as sharecroppers on a farm owned by Count Mazzoleni. Times were extremely difficult, sharing an old cheese dairy with Maria’s mother, Assunta, having to do the cleaning, cooking and mending for her own family as well as the Serenellis.
When Luigi died in 1901 of malaria complicated by pneumonia, Assunta had to take over his job in the fields and Maria had to do all of the work at home. Although she was only eleven, Maria filled her day with work and prayer. She prayed the rosary daily with the other children just as her father had done before he died. She made her First Communion a year early, dedicating herself to learning the Catholic catechism. Soon thereafter, Alessandro began making advances at Maria and threatening her if she told anyone. On July 5th, 1902, Maria was attacked by Alessandro when she refused him. She insisted that God wouldn’t want this and that he would go to hell, so he stabbed her repeatedly.
She was taken to the hospital and before dying the following day, she met with the parish priest of Nettuno and forgave Alessandro completely.
The superior of the hospital made her a Child of Mary and she died wearing a medal of Our Lady and holding a crucifix. While in prison, Alessandro had a vision of Maria which changed his life completely.
He and Maria’s mother, Assunta, were both present at her canonization by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
Feast Day: July 6th
Name Meaning: Beloved; Love
Patron Saint of: Youth, Children of Mary, Teenage girls, Rape victims
It’s so beautiful to read, it helps me with my stress .