Saturday, October 17, 2015

St. Maria Goretti in Chicago

From Regina Magazine:
Alessandro himself had been born into a family well acquainted with poverty and hardship.  Shortly after he was born, his own mother attempted to drown him. Several months later, while in a mental asylum, she died.  His brother would also be subsequently interned in an asylum, where he also died.
Alessandro’s father, Giovanni, was an alcoholic who moved his family multiple times trying to earn a living as a manual laborer.  Unfortunately, his alcoholism prevented his holding down a job for very long.  While working as a sharecropper near Ancona, he’d met Luigi  Goretti and they’d decided to attempt to work as a team. It was Count Mazzoleni, a wealthy nobleman who owned much land around Le Ferriere, who’d agreed to hire them both as sharecroppers.  He provided a building to house the Gorettis on one side and the two Serenellis on the other, the two living quarters being separated by a common kitchen. 

But when Luigi Goretti died, Giovanni Serenelli sank deeper into alcoholism.  His son Alessandro, in turn, became increasingly reclusive and withdrawn. (Read more.)
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