St. Maria Goretti Research Paper

There are many reasons why I elected Maria Goretti as my saint, the main reason: being due to the fact, that in here few years of living she endured many hindrances and yet she still managed to keep a concrete spirit and keep a bosom relationship with God. At only the age of 9 she had been deprived of her father to a gruesome disease, malaria. I personally can't imagine how grueling it must be to lose a parent. Not to mention, that they were struggling financially while her father was living, now even-so-more. Since the catastrophe of her father, her siblings and mother felt obligated to work in the fields; in order to provide food for the family, while she stayed home, did the household chores while watching over her younger sister. I've read many articles about St. Maria and they all share one similar aspect about her family, that although they encountered many hardships, they maintained a close relationship to God and loved him profoundly.
Not only did she lose a father, soon she would lose her own life.
One day while Maria was outside sewing, her neighbor came up behind her, snatched her, hauled her into a room and strived to sexually abuse her, not going down without a fight, she aimed to stop him and said to him, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it. You'll go to hell"!. St. Maria preferring to die rather than submit to such a thing, made him infuriated, causing him to spiral out of control and resulted in him stabbing her numerous times, then cowardly running away. Later on the day, her family returned and immediately took her to the nearest hospital, there they began surgery; although, her wounds were too severe, and there wasn't much they were able to do. The next day she forgave him for what he had done, and wished to see him in heaven with her one day. On that day she died while looking at a picture of the Blessed Mother, while holding a cross to her
chest. Forgiving someone who does harm to you is difficult; therefore, for st. Maria to forgive the person that caused her horrific suffering is astonishing, not only did she forgive him but she also anticipated on seeing him in heaven one day! Throughout all of this mayhem, st. Maria never lost faith in God, she stuck with him throughout and believed through him all things would be resolved. Also hoping that one day he would restore the faith of the man who caused her mind-boggling agony. After researching and typing my paper about st. Maria, I've learned that she's what I would consider my antagonist, she has all the characteristics I'm flawed in. She's extremely brave for such a young person she was, one day I aspire to attain the amount of faith she had in God, her purity, the heroism she demonstrated, as well as forgiveness for others who seem to not be virtuous of it. In conclusion, Maria was an extraordinary person, with amazing characteristics, especially in managing to keep a positive spirit throughout. I chose to end my essay in a quote that I believe describes st. Maria exceedingly well, "Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves. At times how hard it seems to forgive! And yet pardon is the instrument placed into our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart." - Pope Francis.