Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
July 6
Saint of the day:
Saint Maria Goretti
Patron Saint of youth, young women, purity, and victims of rape
Saint Maria Goretti’s Story
One of the largest crowds ever assembled for a canonization—250,000—symbolized the reaction of millions touched by the simple story of Maria Goretti.
She was the daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer, had no chance to go to school, never learned to read or write. When Maria made her First Communion not long before her death at age 12, she was one of the larger and somewhat backward members of the class.
On a hot afternoon in July, Maria was sitting at the top of the stairs of her house, mending a shirt. She was not quite 12 years old, but physically mature. A cart stopped outside, and a neighbor, 18-year-old Alessandro, ran up the stairs. He seized her and pulled her into a bedroom. She struggled and tried to call for help. “No, God does not wish it,” she cried out. “It is a sin. You would go to hell for it.” Alessandro began striking at her blindly with a long dagger.
Maria was taken to a hospital. Her last hours were marked by the usual simple compassion of the good—concern about where her mother would sleep, forgiveness of her murderer (she had been in fear of him, but did not say anything lest she cause trouble to his family), and her devout welcoming of Viaticum, her last Holy Communion. She died about 24 hours after the attack.
Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. For a long time he was unrepentant and surly. One night he had a dream or vision of Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him. His life changed. When he was released after 27 years, his first act was to go to beg the forgiveness of Maria’s mother.
Devotion to the young martyr grew, miracles were worked, and in less than half a century she was canonized. At her beatification in 1947, her 82-year-old mother, two sisters and a brother, appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. Three years later at Maria’s canonization, a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goretti
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-maria-goretti/
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=78
https://mariagoretti.com/who-is-st-maria/
https://www.deviantart.com/theophilia/art/St-Maria-Goretti-icon-643473048
Prayer:
1910 Assunta and her daughters Teresa and Ersilia, sisters of St. Maria Goretti.
Visit:
Santuario di Nettuno
(Sanctuary of Nettuno)
Viale Matteotti
00048, Nettuno, Italy
http://www.santuarionettuno.it/
*This church is next to the sea.
*The remains of St Maria Goretti rest below the main altar in the lower chapel of this church.
Casa del Martírio di Santa Maria Goretti
(House of St Maria Goretti’s Martyrdom)
*This is where St Maria Goretti was martyred. It is in the small town of Le Ferriere which is 11 kilometers outside of Nettuno.
Timeline:
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Recipe:
Biscotti al Limone
The simplest flavors are always the most popular, even when it comes to desserts, so today we offer lemon biscuits that will win you over with their delicate taste and their fresh scent.
Two discs of soft shortcrust pastry contain a delicious filling of custard flavored with lemon zest, but be careful: take care to use only the yellow part of lemons because the white layer is bitter and could spoil the taste of sweets. These small delicacies are very versatile, enjoy them as a snack with a good cup of aromatic tea or offer them to your guests at the end of the meal along with coffee, perhaps together with orange biscotti ... a must for citrus lovers!
Sprinkled with plenty of powdered sugar, the lemon cookies will be even more irresistible and will make a great impression even on an inviting cabaret of pastries .
Ingredients for shortbread (for 20 biscuits)
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Flour 00 250 g
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Cold butter 125 g
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Powdered sugar 100 g
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Yolks 2
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Lemon peel 2
FOR THE LEMON CREAM
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Whole milk 125 ml
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Sugar 35 g
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Corn starch (maizena) 10 g
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Flour 00 5 g
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Yolks 2
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Lemon peel 2
TO BRUSH
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Eggs 1
How to make the cookies:
To make lemon biscuits, start by preparing the shortcrust pastry (for further details, refer to the shortcrust recipe):
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sift the flour
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and transfer it to the mixer, add the butter and a pinch of salt
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and blend until get a sandy compound; apart grated the peel of lemons
4.Then transfer the sandy mixture onto a pastry board forming the classic fountain, pour the sugar into the center and add the lemon peel to the mixture to flavor it
5. Now incorporate the egg yolks
6. and knead quickly by hand to mix the ingredients until a homogeneous and compact mixture is obtained
7. form a dough, wrap it with the transparent film and place it in the refrigerator to harden for at least 30 minutes.
8. Now take care of the cream: heat the milk with the lemon zest
9. in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and then turn off the heat.
10. Separately, in a bowl pour the egg yolks and sugar
11. and whisk the mixture with a whisk until it is clear,
12. then add the flour and the cornstarch (or potato starch) sifted little by little continuing to mix with the whisk
13. and lastly incorporated also the hot milk.
14. Transfer the cream into a saucepan, taking care to pass it through a strainer to retain the lemon rind and any lumps.
15. Cook the cream over low heat, continuing to mix with the whisk
16. until a firm and compact consistency is achieved.
17. Pour the cream into a small bowl, cover with the film and contact and let the cream cool in the fridge.
18. Meanwhile, take out the dough pastry and roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured pastry board creating a thick sheet about 2-3 mm.
19. With a cookie cutter with a diameter of 6 cm obtained 40 circles because each cookie will consist of two discs of dough (you can change the cookie oval using molds in the shape of a flower or heart).
20. Remove the cream from the refrigerator and transfer it to a pastry bag, squeeze a tuft of cream in the center of the pastry dough,
21. then brush the edge of the dough with the beaten egg
22. and cover with another pasta disc; seal the edges well with your fingers
23. and then place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
24. Bake the biscuits in a preheated oven at 180 ° for 20 minutes (or in a 160 ° fan oven for about 15 minutes), biscuits should not become golden but keep a light color. When cooked, take out your lemon biscuits and let them cool before you taste them.
25. Optional coat with powder sugar or a lemon sugar wash
