R
Rawb
Guest
This is sort of a game I thought of when reading another post that was asking for saint suggestions. I was struck by how much people sounded as if these saints they were recommending were friends who lived just next door. I thought it would be a great idea to culminate these together. This is a fun, informal way to share the knowledge of all the saints we’ve picked up through the ages.
So here are the rules:
Maria Teresa Goretti is a virgin martyr from Italy. Daughter of two poor farmers, her father died when she was very young and she had to help her mother care for her brothers and sisters until her death. Her family shared a home with another farming family, a father and son. The son’s name was Alessandro. One day, finding her home alone, sewing, Alessandro attempted to rape Maria (she was eleven, if I recall). She fought him, saying “God does not want it” and “it is a mortal sin! You’ll go to hell!” He tried choking her, but she wiggled away, so instead he stabbed her repeatedly with a knife. As she struggled to get away he stabbed her three more times. Her younger sister found her, and the sister’s crying alerted Maria’s mother and Alessandro’s father. Maria died in the hospital later that day. Her surgeon asked her to remember him in paradise, and she said she would.
Alessandro went to prison for many years, unrepentant until he was visited by a Bishop. After he was released he went to Maria’s mother, asking her for forgiveness, which she said Maria had already given him. He had had a dream where Maria gave him lilies that burned his hands (some say one for each knife wound, but I don’t remember if that’s a fact or not). He became a lay brother in a monastery. He attended Maria’s beatification, along with her mother (the first mother to attend the beatification of their child).
She’s the patron of virginity, forgiveness, and chastity, among other things. There’s also a movie about her life, that I thought was pretty good.
So here are the rules:
- You can only list one saint at a time
- Try not to list a saint anyone else has chosen
- You cannot ‘link’ to a biography. You have to write about their life in your own words. It doesn’t matter if it lacks a lot of dates and strict facts. Stories from what you can recall and remember are the most interesting, IMO.
Maria Teresa Goretti is a virgin martyr from Italy. Daughter of two poor farmers, her father died when she was very young and she had to help her mother care for her brothers and sisters until her death. Her family shared a home with another farming family, a father and son. The son’s name was Alessandro. One day, finding her home alone, sewing, Alessandro attempted to rape Maria (she was eleven, if I recall). She fought him, saying “God does not want it” and “it is a mortal sin! You’ll go to hell!” He tried choking her, but she wiggled away, so instead he stabbed her repeatedly with a knife. As she struggled to get away he stabbed her three more times. Her younger sister found her, and the sister’s crying alerted Maria’s mother and Alessandro’s father. Maria died in the hospital later that day. Her surgeon asked her to remember him in paradise, and she said she would.
Alessandro went to prison for many years, unrepentant until he was visited by a Bishop. After he was released he went to Maria’s mother, asking her for forgiveness, which she said Maria had already given him. He had had a dream where Maria gave him lilies that burned his hands (some say one for each knife wound, but I don’t remember if that’s a fact or not). He became a lay brother in a monastery. He attended Maria’s beatification, along with her mother (the first mother to attend the beatification of their child).
She’s the patron of virginity, forgiveness, and chastity, among other things. There’s also a movie about her life, that I thought was pretty good.
