St. Maria Goretti's Biography

Saint Maria Goretti

Martyr For Purity

If Maria Goretti's life story were entitled Achieving Success For Your Child (guaranteed to produce results in one easy lesson), it would be read and re-read and passed on to others. Whatever diet was prescribed, whatever training schedule was proposed, whatever extracurricular lessons were necessary, no sacrifice would be considered too great to achieve such a desired end. And if that success were measured by wordily acclaim and, before reaching its teens, the child drew a crowd of thousands, the method would be a best-seller! Think of the pride of the parents witnessing the fruit of their labors!

Only fifty years ago one mother saw the results of her training hailed by a crowd of 500,000, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Assunta Goretti was the first mother in history to be present at her child's canonization and saw her offspring receive the highest honors the Church can offer. When Assunta was asked the secret of her successful parenting methods, this mother replied simply, "I taught her the fear of God and God did all the rest."