How many of us, at the point of death, would ask that our enemies be “with me in heaven forever?”

Saint Maria Goretti did say this on her deathbed, and not request just any enemy- but her murderer, Allesandro Serenelli.

The faith, love, and mercy of this young Italian girl, 11-years-old when she was killed for resisting Allesandro’s advances, are recounted by our Talking Saints’ co-hosts Laurie and Pete today, the feast of Saint Maria Goretti.

Her powerful story of forgiveness continues to touch the hearts of others, including Allesandro, who repented while in prison and attended her canonization in 1950, along with 500,000 others - one of the largest crowds ever for the declaring of a saint.

Saint Maria Goretti, Patron of youth, purity, and victims of rape, pray for us!

Our hosts, as well, in this Year of Saint Joseph, continue the recitation of “The Litany of Saint Joseph,” which can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/litanies/litany-of-saint-joseph

Listen to Talking Saints with Laurie Power and Pete Sanchez on the Talking Catholic channel at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Alexa or at https://talking.catholicstarherald.org/show/talking-saints/. 

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