Introducing St. Rita

5:20 AM | Labels: wandering

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Devoting one page of my blog to St Rita. She made me believe that miracles really do happen. St Rita by the way is the patron saint of "Impossible", for your information...

Patronage:

Lost and impossible causes, sickness, wounds, marital problems, abuse, mothers
Major Shrine & Feast Day: Cascia / May 22

Early life

St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy. The name is perhaps a shortening of Margherita, the Italian version of the name "Margaret."

She married at age 12 to Paolo Mancini. Her parents 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 made many enemies in the region. St. Rita endured his insults, abuse, and infidelities for 18 years, and bore two sons with Mancini, Giangiacomo Antonio and Paolo Maria. Although she tried to raise them with Catholic values, her sons grew to be like their father.

Toward the end of her husband's life, St. Rita helped convert him to live in a more pious manner. Although Mancini became more congenial, his allies betrayed him, and he was violently stabbed to death. Before his death, he repented to St. Rita and the Church, and she forgave him for his transgressions against her.

After Mancini's murder, her sons wished to exact revenge on their father's murderers. Knowing murder was wrong, she tried to persuade them from retaliating, but to no avail. She, instead, prayed to God for Him to take away the lives of her sons instead of seeing them commit such a terrible sin. God heard St. Rita's words and her sons died of natural causes a year later.

Entering the monastery

After the deaths of her husband and sons, St. Rita desired to enter the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene Cascia but was spurned for being a widow, as virginity was a requirement for entry into the convent. 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 at the age of 36, and was allowed to enter the monastery. at

However, 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 in 1457

Beatification and canonization

St. Rita was beatified by Urban VIII in 1627, to whose private secretary Fausto Cardinal Poli, born less than ten miles (16 km) from her birthplace, much of the impetus behind her cult is due; she was canonized on May 24, 1900 by Pope Leo XIII. Her feast day is on May 22.

Symbols

The rose

The rose is the symbol most often associated with St. Rita.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

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