The Diocese of Gaylord celebrated the feast day of St. Maria Goretti on Wednesday, holding her up as an example of chastity and peace.

“Today is the Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, martyr,” the diocese posted on Facebook. “Let us pray today that our society may come to know the goodness of chastity and non-violence, as demonstrated by the life of St. Maria Goretti.” 

When Maria was just 11 years old, an 18-year-old man tried to rape her, a report on Catholic.org said. Maria resisted him, crying out, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" She told her attacker she would rather die than give in to his demands, so he proceeded to stab her 14 times. Maria's family found her and took her to a hospital. The doctors were unable to save her. Before she succumbed, Maria forgave her attacker. 

Her assailant, whose name was Alessandro, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. While there, Maria came to him in a dream, and after he awoke, he converted. Upon his release from prison, Alessandro visited Maria's mother and begged her to forgive him. 

Maria's feast day is celebrated yearly on July 6, Franciscan Media said. Many people became devoted to her, and many miracles have been attributed to her intercession. She was canonized in 1950 and a quarter of a million people gathered to celebrate the occasion, including Alessandro her attacker, who was then 66. He knelt and wept during the event.  

After Alessandro's death, a letter he had written was discovered. It said, in part, "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. … 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.”

Maria is the patron saint of rape victims, girls, teenagers and Catholic youth.