St. Maria Goretti

  Episode Transcript  

One

A “No” that is Stronger than Death

Today the Church honors St. Maria Goretti. Born in 1890, she lost her father to malaria at nine. On July 5th, 1902, eleven-year-old Maria sat on the front stoop mending a dress and minding her little sister while her mother worked the fields. Twenty-year-old Alessandro Serenelli slipped inside and demanded what he called “love.”
“No! It is a sin! God does not want it!” she cried. When she fought him off, he stabbed her fourteen times and fled. A day later, after forgiving Alessandro and begging God to bring him to heaven with her, the little martyr entered eternity. Her feast proves that age and size are nothing before grace: a frail body could not stop the knife, but her moral will shook a grown man—and still shakes us. “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:20).

Where am I tempted to trade purity for comfort?

Two

Mercy That Breaks Chains

Alessandro entered prison as a furious animal. His violence kept him in solitary for years until Maria appeared to him in a dream. She stood in a bright garden, cut fourteen white lilies, one for every wound he had carved into her, and silently placed them in his hands. He awoke, shattered, begged for a priest, and made a full confession.

From that night he became the gentlest inmate in the block. When released, his first stop was Assunta Goretti’s door. Falling to his knees, he sobbed, “Mamma, forgive me!” She lifted him, kissed his forehead, and led him to Mass. Mother and murderer received Communion side by side. Alessandro entered a Franciscan monastery, dedicating the rest of his life to prayer, penance, and quiet labor.

Maria Goretti was canonized on June 24th, 1950, by Pope Pius XII. Among the 500,000 pilgrims, most of them young people, stood her mother, four siblings, and Alessandro, the man she had forgiven. Addressing the crowd, the Pope asked, “Young people, delight of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of God’s grace?” A thunderous “Yes!” rang out in reply.

Three

Maria’s Challenge to Women

God endowed men with greater physical strength to protect women and their children. However, women possess a different kind of strength, the unique moral fortitude that calls forth the best out of men. Women have the powerful ability to say "Yes" and "No."

Your heart longs to be seen, cherished and loved. A man’s heart, in turn, longs to win a woman worthy of his best. He may feel a fleeting thrill in using a body, but he is inspired only by the treasure he must protect. When you set clear boundaries, “I will be pursued only in purity,” you do not lose power; you exercise it. The Catechism calls this complementarity “oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life” (CCC 2333). 
Fear whispers that a firm “No” will leave you alone. Maria whispers back: better heroic solitude than cheap companionship. Trust the Father. If He calls you to marriage, He will send a man who honors your dignity.

So, ask yourself, “Do my words, clothing, and media choices lift men higher or pull them lower?”

Four

Maria’s Challenge to Men

Alessandro later confessed that pornography lit the fuse that exploded in violence. Lust trains a man to look, take, and discard; unchecked, appetite mutates, first to harsher images, then to cruelty. Jesus is surgical, “Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mt 5:28-30). 
Let me suggest three steps to remove the near occasion of sin:

Change the environment. Set every screen to greyscale for example.

Re-train desire. Replace the first lustful thought with a spoken Hail Mary.

Stay sacramental. Confession resets the soul, Holy Communion feeds the will, so schedule both weekly.

Brother, your strength was made to protect, not prey. Maria’s little “No” calls forth your big “Yes” to heroic purity. The world is desperate for men who bleed for virtue instead of for vice.

Ask yourself, “Which device, app, or friendship most drags me toward impurity?”

Five

Freedom from Resentment

If lust shackles many men, resentment chains many women and plenty of men besides. Resentment is the habit of replaying a wound until it corrodes charity. Scripture counsels, “Let all bitterness and wrath…be put away…be kind, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:31-32).
Maria’s story is the triumph of forgiveness. She had no father’s arms to shield her, yet she prayed for the boy who stabbed her and died saying, “I want him in Heaven with me.” Her mother Assunta then did the unthinkable, she welcomed Alessandro as a son. They did not deny the evil; they broke its power.
How do we imitate them? Name the hurt before the Crucified. Speak forgiveness aloud. Feelings may lag; words begin the unlock.

Do one act of goodwill. Light a candle, offer a Rosary decade, or write a blessing in your journal. Meditate on Christ crucified: the Man who will never use you, betray you, or abandon you. Under His gaze, lust and resentment lose their glamour.

So ask yourself, “Whose name still stings when I hear it?”

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

  • Delete the apps and block the websites on your phone that lead you to temptation.

  • Make an act of forgiveness by lighting a candle, offering a decade of the Rosary, and writing a blessing for someone whom you’ve resented.

Prayer Intentions

Here are some recent prayer intentions from our community:

  • Please pray for my friend’s sister, Sue, who is in kidney failure that the dialysis will kick start her kidneys.  The doctor said it will take a miracle and we believe in miracles. Thank you! - Bush

  • Please pray for my son who took the NCLEX last May 21 that he passed the mentioned exam in order for him to start a new life outside Brunei🙏 - Angelita

  • "Please pray for me while selling my home.  Last fall my wife passed away and I have decided to move closer to family.  Dennis"

We invite you to submit your own prayer intentions by replying to this email, or you can share them directly in our app. Your requests will be shared anonymously, allowing our community to come together in prayer and support for one another.

Download our App!

Join our prayerful community anytime, anywhere! Click the button below to access daily meditations, submit prayer intentions, and grow in faith with us.

What did you think of today's meditation?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you enjoyed this meditation, subscribe below.

Reply

or to participate.