Bl. Teresa, pray for us!
Victim of war crimes and terror.
This virgin-martyr is especially important today, when rape is increasing once again, perpetrated as a war crime and an act of terror. Though her feast day coincides with the great St. Augustine, Bl. Teresa needs to be recognized more widely and devotion to her needs to be promoted.
On 28 August 1944 she attended morning Mass at 7:00am and then went to work in the fields with her two sisters Anna and Adele when the three heard gunshots all of a sudden. At 9:00am partisans on the run warned them not to return to their home because the German soldiers were fast approaching and would pose a significant danger to the women though she wanted to return to help her mother hide and to take several possessions with her including a photograph of her late father.
The Nazi soldiers who had pushed back partisans entered her hometown of Santa Giulia and began to terrorize the residences while parading the partisans as their prisoners. At 3:00pm the soldiers arrived and she hid behind a rock though was soon discovered. The Nazis kidnapped several other women in addition to Bracco. In the procession of those taken prisoner she met her cousin Enrichetta Ferrera and her infant – Ferrera gave her child to Bracco for a brief moment but Bracco handed the child back when it began to wail and anger the soldiers.
One soldier took her into the woods to rape her and she tried in vain to run to find help though was caught. The angered soldier strangled her – despite her best efforts to resist – and then shot her twice in the heart. He then stomped on her skull. Father Natele searched the woods and discovered her remains on 30 August alongside Bracco's sister. It was found that the murdered Bracco was on her back with her hands crossed over her chest – a bullet went through one hand and was lodged in her upper chest and there was a pale mark on her throat in addition to bruises on her face and bite marks across her arms and chest. Olivieri hurried to cover her remains and Doctor Scorza was summoned to confirm the death and examine what had occurred. Her funeral was celebrated on 31 August. - Source
Teresa Bracco was from Dego, a comune in the
Province of Savona, Liguria, Italy.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment with charity and avoid ad hominem attacks. I exercise the right to delete comments I find inappropriate. If you use your real name there is a better chance your comment will stay put.