Daybreak

Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, 1890-1902; daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer; on a hot July afternoon, an 18-year-old neighbor, Alessandro, attempted to molest her, and ended up stabbing her multiple times; Maria was taken to a hospital, where she died; Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison; while there, he received a dream--or vision--of Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him; his life changed, and he was released after 27 years; he immediately sought the forgiveness of Maria's mother; at Maria’s canonization in 1950, a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/6/24 Gospel: Matthew 9:14-17