Love's Bravest Choice

I was reading a book entitled "Pure Womanhood", I found a prayer for purity at the back portion and saw the name Gioretti. " St. Maria Gioretti, Pray for us" I never forgot her name "Gioretti". I was asking myself why is she the saint of purity and chastity?

I'm a Marian devotee and a member of Total Consecration To Jesus through Mary family. We had a meeting last Thursday on our plans this year. Bea, a friend and a leader mentioned "Gioretti"  and how she became a saint by preserving her purity as a sign of her Big Love to God, so I asked Bea her story and she told me how she remained virgin at her last breathe, she was almost raped by a neighbor named Alessandro but she resisted and shouted "No, it's a sin! I will not do it!, God will not allow it". 

Before her last breathe she forgave Alessandro and said 

"Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise."

Read more further for Maria Gioretti's story and Alessandro's conversion.

October 16, 1890
Maria Goretti is born in Corinaldo, Italy to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini.

October 17, 1890
Maria is baptized in the Church of San Francesco in Corinaldo.

October 4, 1896
Maria is confirmed by Mons. Giulio Boschi, Bishop of Senigallia.

July 5, 1902
Maria was mortally wounded at 15.30 by her neighbor, Alessandro Serenelli, who attacked her with intent to sexually abuse her. He was 20 years old.

July 6, 1902
Maria dies at the age of 11 years, 9 months and 21 days, after forgiving Alessandro.

June 24, 1950
Maria Goretti is declared Saint in St. Peter's Square by Pope Pius XII, becoming the youngest officially recognized Roman Catholic saint ever.

Her Story:

The daughter of humble sharecroppers, Maria and her family moved to the little town of Ferriere, Italy in 1899 in search of work .Desperately seeking to support his family, Luigi Goretti struck up a bargain with Signor Serenelli, who had a son named Alessandro.The two families lived together in a building owned by Count Mazzolini.

Maria quickly matured in grace and holiness in the eyes of friends and other acquaintances. After losing her father to malaria, she developed great strength and maturity. Her charming modesty, cheerful obedience and the serious, but free acceptance of a hundred thankless home chores distinguished her from the other children who would play in the dusty streets of Ferriere. Perhaps the highlight of her life was her First Holy Communion, which she dutifully prepared for and awaited with great anticipation. She truly seemed to be advancing "in wisdom, and age and grace before God and men."

Lured by the passions of his day and nurturing the dark side of his soul with impious reading and thoughts, Alessandro Serenelli had been a thorn in lovely Maria's side. He propositioned her on several occasions and harassed her with impure suggestions. On July 5, 1902, he would be denied no longer. As she once again rebuffed his sexual advance, shouting, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!", Alexander lunged to the deed, stabbing Maria 14 times.

Doctors in Nettuno tried to save Maria's life to no avail. After 20 painful hours of suffering during which she forgave and prayed for Alessandro, Maria entered Heaven fortified with the Last Sacraments. Her last earthly gaze rested upon a picture of the Blessed Mother. It was July 6, 1902.

Almost fifty years later on June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII stood on the steps of St. Peter's in Rome and pronounced Maria Goretti a Saint and Martyr of the Universal Church to half a million people. He proposed her as the Patroness of Modern Youth and set July 6th as her feast Day. Her mother, and her murderer, attended the canonization ceremony together.

This was the triumph of the little girl who loved God and hated sin.

Maria Goretti had led a very ordinary life. But in spite of her simplicity, her great faith and love for God made her truly extraordinary.

TRICK OR TREAT

I researched the history of trick or treat on the net and found this and I quote "Trick-or-treat is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the phrase "Trick or treat!" The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them. In North America, trick-or-treating has been a customary Halloween tradition since the late 1920s. It typically happens between 5:30pm and 9:30pm^[1] on October 31,^[2] although some municipalities choose other dates.^[3] Homeowners wishing to participate in it sometimes decorate their private entrances with artificial spider webs, plastic skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. Some rather reluctant homeowners would simply leave the candy in bowls on the porch, others might be more participative and would even ask an effort from the children in order to provide them with candy. In more recent years, however, the practice has spread to almost any house within a neighborhood being visited by children." - Wikipedia 

Halloween is one of the most awaited activity in the office. We stayed late at night to decorate our cubes and make sure that it looks spooky to the children. It was very stressful because we were hitiing 2 birds with one stone, we had to decorate while finishing all deliverables to the client making sure they are on time.

 I was supposed to have dinner in the upper photo but I cancelled it because there were so many things to do. I was the one who initiated the dinner but I was the one who cancelled it, funny right? I know I left my friend disappointed that night but I'll make sure to catch up with him this week. 

We really had fun that day and ate our lunch together at Brown cup and I ordered Hungarian sausage with cheese but was not satisfied with the serving if there's a sunny side up egg on the side would really made a difference but thank you to Leslie and Mildred for feeding me with their extra rice and left over pork chop. 

 Priceless friends

Yummy but cannot satisfy my big appetite. hehe :)

I really envied Ludge's meal. I will really go back to Brown cup and order this! Thanks Ludge for giving me a part of the pancakes. :)

After the sumptuous lunch we headed back to the office and slept. But for me no sleep happened because my dad called and invited me over for a family lunch. I said NO but my father insisted so I gave in.I was really full that day! While with my family over lunch, Leslie texted me for Ludge's make-up so I hurriedly went back to the office and was shocked to see a flock of people and children with their costumes waiting for the elevator to open. There are 7 elevators in the building but that afternoon was different, it was really a busy elevator afternoon and you really have to wait.

I was cramming over Ludge's make-up, I was really scared that it will not turn out the way I wanted it to be, I didn't want to fail Ludge's expectation on the "zombie look" he tried to achieve. I was praying the whole time while doing the make-up asking for God's wisdom on what to do next with Ludge's look because first of all I'm no good at scary make-up looks, I just researched in Pinterest and followed diligently the steps there. God is really good though it didn't turned out the way it should be but still Ludge won as the BEST zombie look that day. 

Congrats Ludge :)

November 1 (All Saint's Day) I spent the entire time with my family at family park. At first I thought it was just a joke that we will go to Family Park but NO they were really serious and I told my parents we could spend it somewhere like in the house why Family Park? But I ended up enjoying the seesaw. I miss playing like a kid.

 MAGNUM FOR THE FAMILY

Ate Kay with King :)

Enjoy the weekend everyone.  :)

bible verse for this post is " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

God Bless.

MY CHRISTIAN FAMILY

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I am attending the CFC-Singles for Christ Christian Life Program weekly every Saturday for the past 2 months now, its a 3 month (12 weeks) program with different topic every session. I joined because I was looking for a community where I can share my love for God and his son Jesus. I'm not a newbie in this community as a matter of fact at age 4 I was already a CFC-Kids for Christ member and was singing praises and worship at that early age, when I turned 15 that was the time I joined CFC-Youth for Christ and everything in my life changed. My view for life and love changed not because I learned many things while serving but I experienced a tragic unimaginable event, something I shouldn't have done in the first place. I fell hard and broke myself to pieces. It don't matter to me now not even a bit. Learning is way far from experiencing! Learning gives you knowledge but Experiencing gives you wisdom and a lesson. I left the community without saying my farewell and promised to myself not to ever return again! Oh yes I didn't, it took me 9 years to return, it first started last year when my cousin keeps on bugging me from a text message, calls, private messages to join the community, And yes for 1 year she received a BIG NO from me. Good thing my cousin didn't give up on me and just last September I agreed on attending.

Last week our session was about Christian Family and how important family is in the society, In the sharing it was stressed out that world peace should start in the family. The basic unit of the society, a place for teaching and training of children, a place for training leaders of the church, and a domestic church. Sad to enumerate but today the world is becoming more materialistic that God's plan for the family is not happening. God has lost His central place in the family, The family itself is losing its importance and little did we know that our family is under attack by evil forces.

As a christian we are called to be as followers of Jesus, who came to the world to die for us. We are called to make a decision that we want God's plan to happen in our family. Take time and give attention to the task of building a strong Christian family. PRAY together as a family - THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER. Fathers should take steps to assume full responsibility for the spiritual and material needs of the family. Fathers alongside the mothers should provide all the needs of their children and teach them how to be close to God - Start them young.

After the session, we gathered around and had a discussion as a group. My leader handed over 2 letters. I asked from whom but from the back of my mind I knew it was from my parents. I was hesitant to read it in front of them because I know completely myself, I am a crying baby, emotional, OA and I fell so unguarded that time and wasn't ready for any emotional leak! When I opened my mother's letter tears fell and I couldn't stop myself so I told everyone in the group that I'm so moved by my mother's letter, it was really full of emotions and gratitude. On the other hand my unexpressive father told me he loves me and always remember that even though I can't hear him say I love you but his actions speaks louder than words.

My mom's letter encourages me more to be true to God, I am stronger now though still in-progress. But I know now where I am going and I'm going to the path God has prepared for me. She also stressed out to put God first in everything and that's what I'm doing now. Trust me I'm having a hard time giving God selflessly. But I'm getting there. I am making new plans in life and serving God and His people is now on TOP PRIORITY. Please pray for me on this! Also in the talk we were reminded that FAMILY starts from  2 individuals bounded by love and marriage and as early as now, we should be praying to God a suitable person that can bring you closer to God. This is noted I said to myself, I've been praying to God that whoever that person is, let him come and stay forever and never leave because I don't like break-ups it's so depressing, maybe God is really listening to me because He gave me a lot of time to think for certain guys, they stick around for awhile but they don't endure the test of time. After all Timing is everything.  I sometimes ask myself is there something wrong with me? Then the answer is NO, there's nothing wrong with me, it's just that he is not what God prepared for me. The Lord knows that whoever that guy will be, he will have the very BEST of me. - so no pressure!

Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

What you are in the family extends to what you are as a friend, as a friend I am very sensitive and I really make sure to make them feel special, because that's what I learned from my family to treat people with IMPORTANCE.