Hl maria goretti biography

Born into a poor peasant family of six  children at the end of the 19th century in Italy, Maria Goretti's life was  difficult from the beginning. Her family worked as farm hands and the children  had to help feed the family as well.

Halfway through her short, saintly life,  Maria's father died of malaria.

For some time the family had been working in  the fields with another family named Serenelli.   Now Maria's mother had to work in the fields in place of her deceased  husband and left Maria to take care of the smaller children.

She prayed a rosary every night for the  repose of her father's soul and was noted for her piety and virtue by many of  those around her.

In 1902, after many advances on Maria, all  of which she rejected, Alessandro Serenelli, a 19 year old farm hand, locked  her into a room and tried to force himself upon her.

She refused, fighting and  warning him that he was committing