By Beniamin Bakalli
Is there any god who might forgive such a crime?
Damned the day Communist ideology was created! Today I’ll talk about Maria Tuci
(Markatusi) an extraordinary girl, beyond reach, nearly celestial. We, the Albanians
who for the last 50 years reached the bottom of Hell, in a country where sacred
word was proclaimed crime, are surprised to find out that Saints are among us.
When the Communists tried to wipe out the line of Saints, they unintentionally enriched it with some Albanian Saints, one of whom is Maria Tuci.
Maria was born in Nderfushaz (Rreshen-Mirdita) on March 12, 1928. She was beautiful, wise and had unshakable faith in Christ. To please their instincts and the desires of their criminal leader, sadistic Communist interrogators tried in all ways to disgrace her and make her lose her faith, but the young woman heroically resisted. Then they striped her violently. According to the statements of her cellmates, Maria faced the tortures heroically until she was so disfigured, her friends could no longer recognize her.
The most horrific event happened in the city of Shkodra in Albania. Europa just stood by and watched the Illyrian land turned into Nero’s amphitheater - the arena suitable for the implementation of Marxist-Leninist theory. After they turned Maria into a living skeleton, they tied her inside a sack with a wildcat enclosed. Communist interrogators delighted themselves by hitting the wildcat with a baton. The wildcat, trying to escape, scratched Maria’s body until the sack was turned into a mass of dried blood.
Maria Tuci (Markatusi) was only 18 years old when she was arrested and 22 years old when she died. She wholeheartedly forgave the torturers who made her a Martyr. She passed the Great Test - leaving behind the splendid fragrance of her immaculate life. She died in the prison hospital in Shkodra on September 24, 1950, a martyr in the fight against Communism.
AAFH translation
Maria was born in Nderfushaz (Rreshen-Mirdita) on March 12, 1928. She was beautiful, wise and had unshakable faith in Christ. To please their instincts and the desires of their criminal leader, sadistic Communist interrogators tried in all ways to disgrace her and make her lose her faith, but the young woman heroically resisted. Then they striped her violently. According to the statements of her cellmates, Maria faced the tortures heroically until she was so disfigured, her friends could no longer recognize her.
The most horrific event happened in the city of Shkodra in Albania. Europa just stood by and watched the Illyrian land turned into Nero’s amphitheater - the arena suitable for the implementation of Marxist-Leninist theory. After they turned Maria into a living skeleton, they tied her inside a sack with a wildcat enclosed. Communist interrogators delighted themselves by hitting the wildcat with a baton. The wildcat, trying to escape, scratched Maria’s body until the sack was turned into a mass of dried blood.
Maria Tuci (Markatusi) was only 18 years old when she was arrested and 22 years old when she died. She wholeheartedly forgave the torturers who made her a Martyr. She passed the Great Test - leaving behind the splendid fragrance of her immaculate life. She died in the prison hospital in Shkodra on September 24, 1950, a martyr in the fight against Communism.
AAFH translation
