Maria was born into a poor Italian family at Ancona in 1890. The family moved to Ferriere di Conca in the Roman Campagna. There, when Maria was aged twelve, a local eighteen year old came into the house one day wishing to do her violence. She refused, according to his early testimony and in anger he stabbed her many times. She died in hospital twenty-four hours later. Her last hours were marked by patient consideration for others and complete forgiveness of her assailant. Maria had always been remarkable for goodness and was no sudden saint. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950.