Slovak teen to be beatified as a martyr to purity

Anna Kolesarova's 'heroic testimony' is something every Catholic can aspire to, said Archbishop Bernard Bober

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A 16-year-old peasant girl will be beatified as a martyr in Slovakia, seven decades after she was shot in front of her family for resisting rape by a drunken Soviet soldier.

Anna Kolesarova "embodies the faithful layperson living in their family, regularly receiving sacraments, praying the rosary and approaching God through good works. Her heroic testimony, drawn from a sincere spiritual life, is something every Catholic and believer can aspire to," Archbishop Bernard Bober of Kosice, Slovakia, told Catholic News Service.

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