St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth, young women, purity, and victims of rape. She was born into a poor family at Corinaldi, Italy in 1890, the third of six children. When she was nine her father died of malaria. Her family was too poor to pay for Masses in her father's memory. Every night Maria would recite the five Mysteries of the Rosary for the repose of her father's soul. She was pious and prayed often. She spent a difficult childhood assisting her mother in domestic duties. The family survived by working for a man named Giovanni Serenelli and his teenage son Alessandro.
In 1902, 20-year-old Alessandro began ordering 11-year-old Maria to perform difficult chores, none of which could be completed to his satisfaction. Alessandro also began making advances on Maria. She refused, he grabbed her, and demanded that she submit to him, but she told him that God did not wish it and it would be a sin. Angrily Alessandro stabbed her to death, with Maria preferring to die rather than be raped.
She survived for 20 hours in the hospital, undergoing surgery without anesthesia. Asked if she forgave her murderer, she replied, "Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise. May God forgive him" She died kissing the crucifix and holding a medal of Our Lady.
Alessandro was captured and sentenced to 30 years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he repented of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave him.
Alessandro was present at St. Peter's when she was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as a model for youth. She is called a martyr because she fought against Alessandro's attempts at sexual assault. The most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker. Her concern for her enemy extended beyond her death.