Posted by punnya on Dec. 24, 2012, 10:16 a.m.
 | Learn about Our Patron Saint The story of St. Maria Goretti is both inspiring and sad. Her death in 1902, at the age of eleven, was the result of a violent sexual assault. Because of this, Maria is considered to be a “martyr of chastity.” The forgiveness she granted to her assailant eventually resulted in his conversion. Maria is the youngest canonized saint. St. Maria Goretti was declared a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1950. Her mother attended her canonization, and is the only parent of a saint ever to have done so. St. Maria Goretti’s intercession is sought for rape victims, those who have lost parents, girls, young people in general, as well as against poverty. |