Born on June 21, 1919 in Sardinia, Italy, Blessed Antonia Mesina was the second of ten children to a peasant family. She only went to school for four years when she had to quit to take over the housekeeping for her mother, Grazia, who became bed-ridden with a heart condition. At the age of 10, she joined Catholic Action and became an active member. At age 16, while collecting wood, she was beaten and murdered on May 17, 1935 in Nuoro, Italy by a teenager would-be rapist and she fought him off to her last breath. She is considered a martyr to purity. She is a patron for rape victims and martyrs. She was beatified on October 4, 1987 by Pope John Paul II in Rome.
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