The road to sainthood is littered with the bodies of dead girls. Saint Maria Goretti was stabbed more than a dozen times while resisting a rape. Saint Dymphna of Ireland refused to share her father’s bed and was beheaded for her filial disobedience. Saint Agnes of Rome, the patron saint of Girl Scouts, was set alight after rejecting an offer of marriage. When the flames did not claim her – she was too pure-hearted to burn – Agnes’s throat was cut. Her sister was stoned to death for good measure – punished for her grief.
These are inspirational stories, we are told. Tales of triumphant innocence. They are also acts of obliteration. Snuffed lights. Maria was 11 years old when she was murdered. Dymphna was 15; Agnes 12. What would happen if these brutalised children were mourned? What if their lives were worth more than their miracles? How might we dare to tell those stories? What kind of prayers might we offer to the dark?
