Maria was the daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer and had no chance to go to school; she never learned to read or write. She was martyred at a young age.

At her beatification in 1947, her 82-year-old mother, two sisters, and her brother appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. Three years later, at Maria's canonization, 250,000 gathered, showing how many were touched by her simple story.

Learn more at https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-maria-goretti