Saints & Obituaries St Maria Goretti: 6 July St Maria Goretti is one of the youngest saints of the Church and was killed aged just 11 in 1902. She was born in Ancona, Italy in 1890, the third of seven children. Poverty forced the family to move twice between 1896 and 1899 and they eventually settled in Nettuno in Lazio, where they shared a building with Giovanni Serenelli and his son, Alessandro. On 5 July 1902 Maria was sitting outside the house sewing one of Alessandro’s shirts. Knowing that she would be alone, he made sexual advances towards her, threatening her with a knife. It became clear to Maria that he was going to rape her, yet she resisted him and would not submit, saying that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and that he would go to Hell if he went through with the deed. Alessandro became incensed and stabbed Maria 11 times. When she tried to run he stabbed her three more times and then ran away. Hearing the noise of the attack, Maria’s mother and
Alessandro’s father returned to the house and found Maria. She was taken to hospital and operated on without anaesthesia but the injuries caused by the stabbing were too severe. She died on 6 July, a day after the attack, while looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and clutching a cross to her chest. Before she died, she forgave Alessandro for what he had done to her. Alessandro was captured soon after the attack and served 30 years in prison for Maria’s murder. Upon his release he went to visit Maria’s mother, Assunta, who was still alive, to plead her forgiveness for her daughter’s murder. She forgave him, saying that if her daughter could forgive Alessandro on her deathbed so then could she. He attended her canonisation in 1950 and later joined the Capuchins as a lay brother. He died peacefully in 1970 aged 87. Pope Pius XII beatified Maria Goretti in April 1947 and three years later canonised her as the ‘St Agnes of the 20th century’. Assunta Goretti attended her daughter’s canonisation, the first mother to ever attend a canonisation ceremony for her child. Nowadays Maria’s body is kept in the crypt of the Basilica of Nostra Signora delle Grazie e Santa Maria Goretti in Nettuno, south of Rome. Her feast day is 6 July and she is the patron saint of chastity.
Westminster Record | July 2015
In Memoriam: July 1 Mgr Anthony Howe (2011) 3 Fr William M Brown (1989) Fr George Ennis (2007) 4 Fr Joseph Anthony Carr (1999) 6 Fr Terence Wardle (2010) 7 Canon Alfred Cuming (1978) Fr John Power (2002) Fr Frank Morrall (1995) 8 Fr Joseph Gardner (1992) 9 Fr Christopher Pemberton (1983) Fr John Norton (1989) 10 Fr Peter Harris (1976) Fr Thomas Kelly (1983) 12 Fr Daniel Higgins (1996) 14 Mgr Canon Joseph Williams (1991) 15 Fr Christopher McKenna (2003) 16 Fr Michael Giffney (1987) Canon John McKenzie (1988) 17 Fr Horatio Hosford (2014) 19 Fr Peter Pearson (1971) 21 Fr Anthony O’Sullivan (1997) Canon Philip Moore (1976) Fr Norman Kersey (1999) Canon Herbert Veal (2005) 22 Fr Tom Allan (2007) 26 Fr George Fonseca (1998)
Ealing Abbey Events Priestly ordination of Br Ambrose McCambridge OSB by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Saturday 4 July at 11am. Book disputation on Ask the Beasts, Darwin and the God of Love, by Elizabeth Johnson. Panel: Clare Watkins, Abbot Martin Shipperlee, Catherine Pepinster & Fr Jim Sweeney CP. Saturday 29 August at 3pm in Ealing Abbey Parish Hall. St Francis of Assisi Catholic Ramblers’ Club meets on every Sunday for walks around London and the Home Counties. Contact by email: antoinette_adkins2000@yahoo .co.uk, call 020 8769 3643 or check out the website: www.stfrancisramblers. ukwalkers.com
Page 18
Fr David Roderick (2005) 27 Fr Graham Feint (2000) 28 Fr Ralph Gardner (1976) Fr Patrick Whyte (1988) Deacon Sydney Adams (2005) 30 Fr Calum MacLean (1982) Fr Vincent Commerford (1997) 31 Fr Albert Vaughan (1995)
Free Catholic Tours ‘Saints and Scholars’ walk first Sunday of the month, including Mass. Contact Peter on 07913 904997 or circlingthesquaretours@ hotmail.co.uk.
Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/diocese.westminster
Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/RCWestminster