called to love,
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We believe that living the virtue of purity, according to our state in life, allows us the freedom to become who God created us to be. In purity, we find authentic love and real happiness.
We invite you to join our community in prayer, fellowship, and apostolate as we continue to work to build a culture of life and love. |
OUR INSPIRATION
Saint Maria GorettiSt. Maria Goretti is unique in that she is the youngest canonized saint in the Church. After many months of sexual advances, Alessandro forced himself upon Maria in an attempt to rape her. Though she prevented him from violating her, Alessandro brutally stabbed her numerous times. Maria died the next day on July 6, 1902, at the age of eleven in the midst of horrendous infection brought on by her lacerations. Her last words were, “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli … and I want him with me in heaven forever.”
While serving his prison sentence, Maria appeared to Alessandro and forgave him. That act of mercy and forgiveness—that act of love—filled Alessandro with contrition for his crime. It was also a turning point for him where grace entered his heart. From that point on, he lived a beautiful and converted life of holiness, eventually becoming a Franciscan lay brother. "Those who were acquainted with little Maria said on the day of her funeral: 'A saint has died!' The devotion to her has continued to spread on every continent, giving rise to admiration and a thirst for God everywhere. In Maria Goretti shines out the radical choice of the Gospel, unhindered, indeed strengthened by the inevitable sacrifice that faithful adherence to Christ demands." -Saint John Paul II
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