Bl. Antonia Mesina
Facts
Patron: of martyrs; rape victims
Birth: 1919
Death: 1935
Beatified: 4 October 1987, Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II
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Blessed Antonia Messina was born on 21 June 1919. She was the second of ten children born to a poor family. After four years of school she took over housekeeping to help her bedridden mother, Grazia. She joined Catholic Action at the age of ten. While gathering firewood on 17 May 1935, she was murdered by a teenager when she resisted his rape attempt. Her body was examined and it was found that she had not been sexually violated. Her feast is celebrated on 17 May
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