| Saint Rita of Cascia | |
|---|---|
Patron Saint of the Impossible |
|
| Widow | |
| Born | 1381 Roccaporena, Perugia, Umbria, Italy |
| Died | May 22, 1457 Cascia, Perugia, Umbria, Italy |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | May 24, 1900, Rome by Pope Leo XIII |
| Major shrine | Cascia |
| Feast | May 22 |
| Attributes | forehead wound, rose, bees |
| Patronage | Lost and impossible causes, interline travel, sickness, wounds, marital problems, abuse, mothers |
Saint Rita of Cascia (1381 – May 22, 1457) is an Italian Augustinian saint. Born near Spoleto, Italy, she was married at an early age to an abusive husband. This marriage lasted for eighteen years, during which she was a model wife and mother. Upon the murder of her husband, she sought to dissuade her sons from revenge. She subsequently joined an Augustinian community of nuns. She was known for the apparent efficacy of her prayers and is venerated due to various miracles attributed to her intercession.
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St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy. She married at age 12 to Paolo Mancini. Her parents (Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri) arranged her marriage, despite the fact that she repeatedly begged them to allow her to enter a convent. Mancini was a rich, quick-tempered, immoral man, who had many enemies in the region. St. Rita endured his insults, abuse and infidelities for years. Through humility, kindness and patience, Rita "converted her cruel husband from his wicked ways, making their home a peaceful sanctuary of holy bliss". (St. Rita of Cascia) bore two sons, Giangiacomo (Giovanni) Antonio and Paulo Maria, who grew up God-loving children. Although Paolo Mancini became congenial, his allies betrayed him and he was violently stabbed to death.
As her sons advanced in years (one now 16), their character began to change. The sons wished to exact revenge on their father's murderers. This unauthorized right of revenge in Italy at the time was called La Vendetta. Fearing that her sons would lose their souls, Rita tried to persuade them from retaliating, but to no avail. Instead, she prayed to God. Her sons died of natural causes and (dysentery) a year later, well prepared to die and go before God.
After the deaths of her husband and sons, St. Rita desired to enter the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene at Cascia but was turned away. Although the convent acknowledged Rita's good character and piety, it was afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her husband's violent death. However, she persisted in her cause and was given a condition before the convent could accept her; the difficult task of reconciling her family with her husband's murderers. She was able to resolve the conflicts between the families and, at the age of 36, was allowed to enter the monastery.[1]
Her actual entrance into the monastery has been described as a miracle. During the night, when the doors to the monastery were locked and the sisters were asleep, St. Rita was miraculously transported into the convent by her patron saints Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustine, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. When she was found inside the convent in the morning and the sisters learned of how she entered, they could not turn her away.
She remained at the monastery, living by the Augustinian Rule, until her death.
She is well known as the "Saint of the Impossible" Because many things that have happened to her in her life are imposible to many of us.
St. Rita was beatified by Urban VIII in 1627. Urban's private secretary, Cardinal Fausto Poli, had been born some 15 km (9.3205679 miles) from her birthplace and much of the impetus behind her cult is due to his enthusiasm. She was canonized on May 24, 1900 by Pope Leo XIII. Her feast day is the whole day of May 22.
One day, while living at the convent Rita said, "Please let me suffer like you, Divine Saviour". Suddenly, a thorn from a figure of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ fell from the crown of thorns and left a deep wound in Rita's forehead. This wound never healed and caused her great suffering for the rest of her life. As a result, depictions of St. Rita show a forehead wound to represent this event. In addition to the physical pain, the wound emitted a terrible stench, which kept the other nuns away from Rita. On the day she died, the odor from the wound in St. Rita's forehead became a beautiful scent of roses.
One of the common versions of the story about the importance of the rose (and fig) is set before St. Rita's entry into the convent.
Another version is set near the end of her life, when St. Rita was bedridden in the convent. A cousin visited her and asked her if she desired anything from her old home. St. Rita responded by asking for a rose and a fig from the garden. It was January and her cousin did not expect to find anything due to the snowy weather. However, when her relative went to the house, a single blooming rose was found in the garden as well as a fully ripened and edible fig, and her cousin brought the rose and fig back to St. Rita at the convent. The rose bush is still alive and often in bloom today.
The rose is thought to represent God's love for Rita and Rita's ability to intercede on behalf of lost causes or impossible cases. Rita is often depicted holding roses or with roses nearby. On her feast day, churches and shrines of St. Rita provide roses to the congregation that are blessed by priests during Mass.
In the parish church of Laarne, near Ghent, there is a statue of Saint Rita in which several bees are featured. This depiction originates from the story of St. Rita's baptism as an infant. On the day after her baptism, her family noticed a swarm of white bees flying around her as she slept in her crib. However, the bees peacefully entered and exited her mouth without causing her any harm or injury. Instead of being alarmed for her safety, her family was mystified by this sight.
Interpretations of the story believe the bees represented her subsequent beatification by Pope Urban VIII (whose Barberini family coat of arms featured three bees).
A large sanctuary of Saint Rita was built in the early 20th century in Cascia. The sanctuary and the house where she was born are among the most active pilgrimage sites of Umbria. Her intercession is also sought by abused women.
Mireille Mathieu, a young French woman born into poverty in 1946, adopted Saint Rita as her patron saint on the advice of her paternal grandmother who advised her, that Saint Rita was the one to pray to for hopeless causes. Mireille had both a love for song, and for performing before an audience. In her autobiography she describes buying a candle for Saint Rita, even if it was her last Franc. Her prayers didn't always come true, but they made her a strong and determined woman. Forty-plus years later, she is still entertaining audiences.[2]