Feast day:- May 22
Patron Saint for Impossible Cases and Hopeless Causes
St Rita was born as Margarita in Roccaporena near Spoleto
in Italy. At the age of 12, she married a nobleman named Paolo Mancini. Rita
remained loyal to her spouse for the entire 18 years of their marriage. She was
also a devoted mother of two boys.
Rita’s religious and spiritual convictions so frustrated
and angered her husband that he often flew off into a fit of rage. Sixteen
years into their marriage, her consistency and persistence finally paid off; she
converted her husband from a life of debauchery and vendetta to her way of life
but 2 years later he was murdered in what was believed to be a politically
motivated assassination. Knowing this,
Rita’s two teenage boys immediately began to scheme to avenge their father’s
murder with the influence of their uncle Bernardo Mancini.
Rita exhausted all efforts to convince her boys not to go
forward with their plans but she did not succeed. Fearing for her boys’ souls, as a last
resort, she prayed to God asking Him to bring her children to forsake their
misguided path. One day while in deep prayer, she became certain with a new and
penetrating awareness that her desire for her sons’ welfare could not be
greater than that of God Himself whose sons they also were. She therefore
entrusted them completely to His wisdom and providence; thereby putting aside
her own plans.
Less than a year later, a deadly disease afflicted
Roccaporena. Among its many victims were
Rita’s sons Paolo Maria and Giangiacomo.
After losing the entire family, Rita asked to join the
local convent in Cascia but she was rejected simply because she was a widow and
the nuns were afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her
husband’s violent death; even though she was acknowledged to be of good
character and deeply admired by the entire community for her gentle and
religious spirit and held in even greater esteem ever since the triple tragedy
in Rita’s family. St Rita felt the call of God was too strong after the first
refusal. She requested two more times to enter the convent but was denied.
Rita did not give up but persisted in her prayers
especially to St John the Baptist, St Augustine of Hippo and Blessed Nicholas
of Tolentino for whom she had a very strong devotion. Eventually they came and
visited her in answer to her petitions and showed her the way through the
barred doors of the convent. She was to share the gift of peace that she has
received from God freely to all. With the help of God and her three Patrons,
one of whom who was about to be canonized; she was able to resolve the
conflicts and enmity and reconcile her husband’s family with the family of her
husband’s murderers.
St Rita was thirty six years old when she finally entered
the convent. As a first test of her
obedience, her superior ordered her to water the dead trunk of a barren
vine. St Rita complied faithfully day
after day until finally to everyone’s amazement especially her superior’s, the
vine began to flower and bear fruit. St Rita remained at the convent living by
the Augustinian Rule. She is well known
as the Patron Saint of impossible or hopeless causes/cases due to the many
miracles and impossible events that happened as a result of her intercession.
During the remaining years of her life, St Rita prayed to
join with Jesus in His suffering and was given the stigmata gift of a thorn in
her forehead. The thorn was not visible
to anyone except her but the wound was. The
wound festered and exuded a horrible stench which remained with her for the
rest of her life and made her a recluse within the convent.
In the year 1446, Friar Nicholas of Tolentino was to be
canonized a Saint. As he had been one of St Rita’s special patrons for much of
her life, she wanted very much to make the pilgrimage to Rome for this happy
and solemn event. Her superior did not allow her initially because of the wound
but it healed inexplicably. St Rita was able to go and on her return to Cascia
, the wound reappeared.
On one occasion, several months before she died, St Rita
was visited by a cousin from Roccaporena. Upon leaving, the cousin asked St
Rita whether she could do something for her. St Rita requested her to bring a
rose from the garden of her former home in Roccaporena. Thinking it would be
impossible to find even a single stalk of rose during the height of winter in
January but to the cousin’s astonishment, she saw a single fresh rose on an
otherwise dry and barren bush in the snow covered garden. She immediately returned
to the convent with the rose. St Rita
received the rose with quiet and grateful assurance understanding it to be a
sign from God that through her prayers her family members were brought to
eternal life.
At the time of her death in 1457, the revolting smell
that emanated from her wound became a sweet pleasant odour and a bright light
filled the room.
St Rita is also known to be a patroness for abused wives
and mourning women.
Excerpts taken from:-
2) www.etwn.org
3) The
Precious Pearl (the Story of St Rita of Cascia) by Michael Di Gregorio, OSR
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