impossible forgiveness
Today, on Divine Mercy Sunday, I'd like to share with you a story about an incredible 11-year-old saint, the power of forgiveness, and God's infinite mercy.
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A man by the name of Alessandro Serenelli was born in 1882. From the outset, his life was surrounded by darkness and pain. Not long after his birth, his mother tried to drown him. Suffering from severe mental illness, she was placed in an asylum until her death. Sadly, Alessandro's brother, also suffering from mental illness, was put into a mental asylum, where he also died. Alessandro's father, Giovanni, managed his pain with alcohol and, as a result, struggled to keep a job to provide for both him and his son.
Through God's grace, Giovanni met Luigi Goretti, another struggling sharecropper with a family to provide for. Teaming up, they obtained a job caring for the land and settled into a shared home. Alessandro and Giovanni now lived with Luigi, his wife Assunta, and their six children.
Tragedy struck not long after their new job had begun. Luigi became very ill and died. After his death, his wife, Assunta, had to labor the land alongside Giovanni to continue providing for her family. Their 9-year-old daughter, Maria, was left to care for the children and to do the cooking and housework.
During this challenging time, Alessandro began to lust after Maria, often making sexual advances toward the young girl. Scandalized, Maria refused to entertain his thoughts. Enraged with her lack of interest, Alessandro caught her alone and attempted to rape the 11-year-old. Maria fought against now 18-year-old Alessandro with all the force of her tiny body; unable to rape her, he stabbed her 14 times.
Maria died 24 hours later from her wounds.
Alessandro was arrested and brought to trial, where he lacked any contrition. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Within the prison, Alessandro often fought the other prisoners in a rage and had to be removed from the general population.
Six years after his imprisonment, Maria appeared to him in a dream. In the dream, Maria forgave Alessandro for her attempted rape and murder. She then offered him, one by one, 14 white lilies. Alessandro woke up a new man. He was overcome by Maria's forgiveness; through her, he had felt our Lord's overwhelming love and mercy.
He served the rest of his sentence a tranquil man striving to make reparation for his sins. Once he was released from prison, Alessandro traveled to meet Assunta to beg for her forgiveness. Assunta offered her forgiveness in abundance. Alessandro then joined the Capuchin Franciscans as a lay brother and worked as a laborer, striving each day to walk closer to Christ until he died on May 6, 1970.
Maria was beatified on April 27, 1947, and became the youngest saint in the Holy Catholic Church on June 24, 1950. Over half a million people attended her canonization, so many that they could not fit inside St. Peter's Basilica. The canonization was moved to St. Peter's Square, where Pope Pius XII conducted the first outdoor canonization in the Church's history.
While the superstar of this story is our beloved St. Maria, this morning, I have spent time reflecting on Alessandro and Assunta. Imagine the heaviness of Alessandro's heart. The deep throbbing of regret that consumed him, the misery and shame of his horrific sin that seemed to define who he was and all that he would ever be…
I think about how difficult it must have been to seek out Assunta. To look into the eyes of the mother whose daughter's life you defiled then stole and ask her for something else. He must have known he was asking Assunta for the impossible.
All of this was impossible without Jesus—forgiveness, redemption, salvation… all without the gift of God's overwhelming, undeserving, abundant mercy.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us pause in prayer and reflect on the sin we'd rather hide from than face. None of us have loved with perfection; we have all fallen so terribly short. Whether it be from pride or shame, we shrink back from asking for forgiveness, and we try to forget that we will one day stare into the piercing eyes of Jesus to answer for ourselves.
A life transformed by the mercy of God is to catch a glimpse of the resurrected Lord. The Gospel is exclaimed every time a sinner falls to His knees before the majesty of his Savior overcome by the gift of forgiveness. Through His mercy, we see death defeated, life resurrected, and a sinner redeemed. Alessandro, Assunta, and St. Maria's story remind us that we are never outside the reach of God's grace.
St. Maria Goretti, Pray for us!
Learn about Divine Mercy and pray the chaplet with this beautiful guide!
