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Saints' Discussion Forums  |  Forums  |  Catholic General Discussion  |  Topic: Patron Saint of Forgiveness? 0 Members and 7 Guests are viewing this topic. « previous next »
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Brigid
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« on: February 26, 2010, 03:14:40 PM »

Does anyone know who the Patron Saint of Forgiveness might be (aside, of course, from Our Lady)?
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AutumnRose
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« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2010, 03:33:46 PM »

I would think St. Maria Goretti, and also St. Maximilian Kolbe.
St. Maria forgave the man who raped and killed her just before she died, and St. Maximilian bore no hatred towards his Nazi persecutors and encouraged others to forgive too. Also Saint Rita, whose husband was violent towards her, but she continually prayed for him and before he died, he repented of his deeds.
Hope this helps!
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Brigid
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« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2010, 03:38:16 PM »

I would think St. Maria Goretti, and also St. Maximilian Kolbe.
St. Maria forgave the man who raped and killed her just before she died, and St. Maximilian bore no hatred towards his Nazi persecutors and encouraged others to forgive too. Also Saint Rita, whose husband was violent towards her, but she continually prayed for him and before he died, he repented of his deeds.
Hope this helps!

I was thinking of the first Saint you mentioned Undecided, the other two I just didn't think of. Thanks.
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Shin
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« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2010, 04:11:48 PM »

To clarify this is St. Maria Goretti's story of how she died resisting an attempted rape, and forgave the attacker. Quoting from the public wikis. Smiley

"In July 5, 1902, finding eleven-year old Maria alone sewing, Alessandro Serenelli came in and threatened her with death if she did not do as he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning Alessandro that he would go to Hell. She desperately fought to stop Alessandro, a 20-year-old farmhand, from abusing her. She kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" Alessandro at first choked Maria, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her eleven times. The injured Maria tried to reach for the door, but Alessandro stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.

Maria's little sister Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Serenelli's father and Maria's mother came to check on the little girl, they found the bleeding Maria and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without anesthesia, but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway throughout the surgery, Maria woke up. She insisted that it stay that way. The pharmacist of the hospital in which she died said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked to the old man: "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," said Maria. The following day, twenty hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for her murderer and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, Maria died of her injuries, while looking at a very beautiful picture of the Blessed Mother.

Alessandro Serenelli was captured shortly after Maria's death. Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time the sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Blandini visited him in jail. Serenelli wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria Goretti gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."

After his release, Alessandro Serenelli visited Maria's still-living mother, Assunta, and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, saying that if Maria had forgiven him on her deathbed then she couldn't do less, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving Holy Communion side by side. Alessandro reportedly prayed every day to Maria Goretti and referred to her as "my little saint."

Serenelli later became a laybrother of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until dying peacefully in 1970.

On the evening of the beatification ceremonies in the Saint Peter's Basilica, April 27, 1947, Pope Pius XII walked over to Assunta. She almost fainted. "When I saw the Pope coming, I prayed, Madonna, please help me. He put his hand on my head and said, blessed mother, happy mother, mother of a Blessed!" They both had eyes wet with tears.

Three years later, on June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Goretti as a saint, the "Saint Agnes of the 20th century."

Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside of Saint Peter's Basilica, in the Piazza San Pietro. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and We introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer."

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« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2010, 04:20:45 PM »

You know it's odd, but I don't know who is officially 'patron' of it. All the saints are so forgiving.. but who had to forgive most..?

Our Blessed Mother and Christ Himself certainly..

I must think of some saints who had to forgive a great deal... Certainly there are some moving stories.. It doesn't come to my mind too often because I think of the saints and their forgiveness in a general blanket forgiveness so that forgiving great or small.. it all is together there..

The Patron Saints' Index, a great site only lists a patron saint for reconcilation, who is not canonized yet, Blessed Francis Patrizzi.

He has a beautiful holy card!
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