Blessed Antonia Mesina

Blessed Antonia Mesina was a young girl from Orgosolo in Sardinia and a member of Catholic Action. In 1935, not yet sixteen years old, she was killed by an attacker while defending her chastity. The Church honors her as a virgin and martyr and commemorates her on May 17, the day of her death.

She was born in 1919 in Orgosolo, in the diocese of Nuoro, the second of the ten children of Agostino Mesina and Grazia Rubanu. Her father supported the family by working as a rural guard, and they lived modestly. Antonia was baptized in the parish of Saint Peter. In 1920 she received confirmation, and she made her First Communion when she was seven.

Her mother was ill, so early on Antonia took over a large share of the housework, helped in the fields, and looked after her younger brothers and sisters. She attended elementary school and learned the catechism in her parish. She went to Mass on Sundays and holy days and sometimes on weekdays as well, went to confession often, and received Communion. She had a special love for the Eucharist and for Our Lady, to whom she prayed the Rosary.

She was formed in the Girls’ Youth of Catholic Action: from 1929 to 1931 she belonged to the group of the youngest girls, and in 1934 and 1935 she was a full member. She encouraged girls her age to join the association as well. By nature she was quiet and resolute. When she heard about the death of Maria Goretti, she said that she would rather die than sin. She confided to a friend that if anyone threatened her chastity, she would rather let herself be killed, like Maria Goretti, than give in.

On the morning of May 17, 1935, Antonia went to Mass and received Communion, and then she went with a friend into the nearby woods to gather firewood for baking bread. On the way she urged her friend to join Catholic Action. When they arrived, the two girls separated a little. Then a young man from her town attacked Antonia from behind, intending to rape her. She fought back with all her strength, and the attacker, enraged by her resistance, killed her by striking her head with a stone again and again. Seventy-four wounds were counted on her body.

The people of the town at once regarded her death as martyrdom. The court that sentenced the killer in 1937 also found that she had died defending her virginity. The cause of beatification was opened by the bishop of Nuoro, Giovanni Melis Fois, and the diocesan inquiry was held from 1979 to 1984. On May 8, 1987, John Paul II approved the decree on her martyrdom.

On October 4, 1987, the Pope beatified her in Saint Peter’s Basilica together with Pierina Morosini and Marcel Callo, on the first Sunday of the Synod of Bishops on the vocation and mission of the laity. In his homily he said that her martyrdom was above all “the point of arrival of a humble and joyful dedication to the life of her large family,” and that her daily, hidden service at home had prepared her for the complete gift of herself.