Saint Maria Goretti

Today is the feast day for St. Maria Goretti, the 12-year-old Italian girl who was brutally murdered in 1902 by an 18-year-old neighbor boy.

Maria Goretti
DVD | 105 minutes

The story of Saint Maria Goretti is retold in this beautifully made new film from Italy. It tells of the plight of the poor laborers of the time, struggling to survive in a swampy area with rampant malaria and extreme poverty. Luigi and Assunta Goretti keep their faith despite the hardship, and instill in their children a deep love for God. Their daughter Maria especially is devout. But tragedy strikes more than once: sickness and death affects the Goretti family, and then their young neighbor Alessandro does the unthinkable… This film, made on location and filled with authentic detail, stars Martina Pinto as Maria, Flavio Insinna (Saint John Bosco) as the brave local Passionist priest, Luisa Ranieri and Massimo Bonetti as her parents, and Claudia Koll as the Countess Mazzoleni.

Includes a special 16 page study booklet with interviews, questions and answers, and more information.

This DVD includes the following language tracks: Italian with English subtitles, English dubbed, Spanish subtitles. This movie is Not Rated

This is a Region 1 DVD (playable ONLY in Bermuda, Canada, the Cayman Islands, United States and U.S. territories)

For information on hosting a movie night in your parish or school click here.

Final Letter from the man who killed Maria Goretti, Alessandro Serenelli:

"I'm nearly 80 years old. I'm about to depart this life. Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself.

My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.

There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.

When I was 20 years-old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me.

I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed.

If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault.

Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society.

The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I've been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.

I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children.

I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life."

Signature: Alessandro Serenelli

Comments

[W.]

I bought this movie some months ago and we have enjoyed it more than once. It is one of our favorites of the recent Catholic-related films.

[Jack]

Her murderer, Serenelli, was actually present in St. Peter's Square when Pius XII canonized her, along with her mother. This is the kind of story the mainstream media would never ever re-tell even though it is 100 times more newsworthy than say Michael Jackson's sad death.

[Billy G]

That's funny, W. The "mainstream" media (or ANY media) tells stories that their particular audience wants to hear about. Turns out that more people want to hear about the king of pop than want to hear the shop-worn story of Serenelli & Marie. Don't blame the "mainstream media". Maybe you can make it your job to alert the press!

[tom layton]

I am the author of "The Fifteenth Crimson Lily" about St. Maria Goretti. The Italian-made 2003 movie, MARIA GORETTI had an excellent cast, beautiful Marriconne scored music, but this movie unfortunately was poorly written and directed. The movie did not center on this Saint's life, rather that of an activist priest who was concerned with the evil landowner who dominated the farmers. There were many inconsistencies in the film from the actual story of this Saint. It was not true to her sanctity, and not true to her murderer's story, either. A film that could have been, had the cast to BE, had the musical score of impression, but the balloon popped shortly after Maria ferries the priest in a boat to his destination. A better movie could, and should have been made. You would think her native country would have done a better job!

Tom Layton

[mmm]

I'm just AMAZED at how prevalent is the error of referring to St. Maria Goretti as being 12 years old when she was killed. She was only 11!!! She was more than three months shy of her 12th birthday. When we know (for example) that someone was born in 1890 and died in 1902, we have to resist the impulse to assume that we can simply subtract the first year from the second. We ALWAYS have to look also at the MONTHS of birth and death, not just the years!