Shrine of St. Maria Goretti & Basilica of Our Lady of Graces
1 Piazza San Rocco Nettuno
Along the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the town of Nettuno, pilgrims come to honor one of the Church’s youngest canonized saints—St. Maria Goretti, a modern martyr of purity and mercy. Her remains rest in the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces (Santa Maria delle Grazie), where countless faithful come to seek strength, healing, and intercession through her powerful witness.
Born in 1890 to a poor Italian farming family, Maria was known from a young age for her deep piety, love for Jesus, and devotion to Our Lady. At the age of 11, she was attacked by a young man named Alessandro Serenelli, who attempted to assault her. Maria resisted heroically, crying out that it was a sin and she would rather die than offend God. In the brutal attack, she was mortally wounded and died the next day—after forgiving her attacker from her hospital bed.
Years later, Alessandro experienced a profound conversion while in prison, after Maria appeared to him in a dream offering him lilies, which burned in his hands. He later testified at her canonization, publicly asking forgiveness and living out the rest of his days in penance.
Maria Goretti was canonized in 1950 by Pope Pius XII in one of the largest canonization ceremonies in history, and her story continues to move hearts across generations. Her incorrupt body is visible beneath the altar of the basilica in Nettuno, dressed in a white First Communion dress—the symbol of her purity and total gift of self to Christ.
For pilgrims, the Basilica is a place of profound encounter with God’s mercy and grace, where the triumph of forgiveness over violence, and purity over sin, is not only remembered—but made present. In this Jubilee Year, St. Maria Goretti invites all who struggle with sin, wounds, or the call to holiness to turn to Jesus with childlike trust, and to forgive as she forgave.