Maria Goretti

I am addicted to this movie. I remember seeing a movie about Maria Goretti in Catholic grade school - but only once. I should have been made to see it over and over and the teachers should have made the students discuss it over and over. The music, scenery and the wretchedness of the times are overwhelming. I have tried to find more information on the actors but there is little.Please read Allessandro Serenellis final letter which I did found."I'm nearly 80 years old. I'm about to depart.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

The great Christian apologist GK Chesterton once remarked that the trouble with so much modern art and literature (he was thinking of Ibsen etc.) was that it had a great knowledge of hell but no knowledge of heaven - unlike writers of the past such as Dante. I think however that he would have approved this beautifully shot, well acted and inspiring film. Although Maria Goretti's life was tragically short and filled with so much pain and hardship, nevertheless, within it, she created a niche of light, a way towards redemption. This film captures this very well.The young actress that plays Maria is convincing and enchanting. The young Italian saint serves as an inspiration to everyone of how we can find heaven in often hellish situations. I watched this film whilst I was sick in bed and felt refreshed at the end. It reminded me of the Ignatian principle of contemplating those things that are life giving - Ignatius himself learned this principle when he was recovering from the wounds of war.Some of the best sorts of films and books are those that make you look at life anew and see what goodness you can bring to the world. This was one of the first films I watched this year and could well end up being the best.Please buy and watch.As an English viewer I am curious why these and other similar films are not available in the UK.

This happens more than it's being reported.............rape. As this DVD - story - points out it is usually someone the victim knows and trusts.........................She was a wonderful person to forgive and pray for his soul. It worked because of her forgiveness and mercy, it's just like the Master says: What is bound on earth will be bound in the next world, and what is forgiven on earth, will be forgiven in the next world.......but we are not the ultimate judge of these things..........our almighty God is the one who decides..........we just decide if we wish to believe..............and in eternity the "chips will fall where they may" God would never put us in Hell, He created us and Maria knew this............and He loves us.........and in Genesis He made "everything good"...........we "blow it" with our "free wills".............God doesn't interfere with that. :) :) :) Rita L. Rast GO MARIA GORETTI GO and thanks for setting an example of the ultimate shining example..........

St. Maria Goretti is an inspiration and a model for youth, not only in days past but for all time. She held onto her virtue in the face of the most heinous attack by a young man who had been watching her with lust in his heart for quite some time.When he finally did murder her, not receiving from her what he most wanted, she forgave him and went to Heaven.The acting in this video is superbly done; I had never heard of any of the actors; I went merely on the notion that this was a movie about one of my favorite Saints...and I was not disappointed.Even tho' it is Italian, with English dubbed in, as I watched it this didn't bother me at all; I even forgot for the most part that I was watching a foreign film.I would recommend this DVD to anyone who wants to know more about the day-to-day life of a modern Saint.

Non è facile realizzare un film sulla vita di un santo che ha vissuto una vita "normale" senza rischiare di annoiare o di assumere toni eccessivamente celebrativi; in questo caso l'impresa è riuscita egregiamente: un bel film, simpatico e profondo, che scorre via bene e tocca il cuore.