Saint Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 - July 6, 1902) is a Roman Catholic virgin saint.

She was born in Corinaldo , Italy, in 1899 she and her family moved to Le Ferriere , where they lived in a building they shared with another family, the Serenellis. When she was eleven years old, she was sexually assaulted by her neighbour, Alessandro Serenelli (b. 1882), who had approached her several times with lewd suggestions. On July 5, 1902, Alessandro attacked Maria, threatening her with a knife; when she would not yield to him, protesting that "it is a sin" and that "God does not want this," Serenelli stabbed her fourteen times. The following day, after expressing forgiveness for her murderer, Maria Goretti died of her injuries.

After serving a prison sentence, the repentant Alessandro Serenelli became a Capuchin laybrother. On June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII canonized Saint Maria Goretti as a virgin and martyr saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Both Goretti's mother Assunta, and her killer, attended the canonization ceremony.

Saint Maria Goretti's feast day is July 6.

External link

• Saint Maria Goretti, pray for us! Official site