Patron saint of the impossible
Also intercedes on behalf of abuse victims and people suffering from difficult marriages
Before she was a Catholic saint, Rita of Cascia was a simple young girl who lived with her parents in the village of Rocco Porenna in Umbria, Italy. Born in 1381 to well-to-do farmers Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri, Rita had a good start at learning generosity at a young age. Although her family had a comfortable life, they were not rich but that did not stop her parents from giving to the poor and the needy.
The young Rita, an only child, had wanted to become a nun, inspired by the faith and humility she saw in her parents but her dream had to wait. She was promised in marriage to Paolo Mancini, who took her as a child bride when she was just 12 years old (in some stories, she was 15). Rita married a rich man but he was cruel and abusive, the kind who made many enemies. Paolo was also unkind to his wife and was unfaithful many times. In spite of these challenges, she bore him two sons, Giangiacomo Antonio and Paulo Maria.
With her boundless love and patience, Rita managed to change Paolo for the better but his past still caught up with him and he was murdered. Embittered by their father's violent end, Giangiacomo and Paulo plotted revenge and were only prevented from carrying out the deed by Rita's fervent prayers. The boys later died of natural causes and were never able to carry out their revenge (known as la Vendetta in Italy), an event that Rita believed was a sign that they had been saved from doing evil.
Now alone, the 36-year-old Rita finally fulfilled her dream to join the St. Mary Magdalene monastery at Cascia to serve Christ. She then devoted her life to prayer and charity work. When she was about 60 years old, she received the stigmata during meditation in front of an image of the crucified Christ. She bore this painful, odorous wound for the rest of her life without complaining.
Rita of the rose
As she grew older, Rita became more frail and suffered ill health and had to be confined in bed. And yet, she remained patient, optimistic and even joyful. When a relative came to visit her, Rita asked for one favor and that was for the relative to bring her a rose from her parents' old garden. At any other time of the year this would not have been difficult but in January, it was impossible to find a rose bush that had a single bloom. Nevertheless, this was exactly what the relative found when she went to Rocca Porenna to fulfill her promise. She then brought the single rose to Rita and it has been associated with the saint thereafter.
The fig is also an important symbol for the saint; in some stories, she asked the relative to bring her both a rose and a fig in January, two items that were not in season but were nevertheless found and given to Rita.
Rita completed her journey home on May 22, 1457. She was 76 years old.
She was beatified in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII and canonized in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII.
Rita remains undefiled by death
St. Rita of Cascia is one of the incorruptibles - saints whose bodies have remained intact many years after death. Her body is encased in glass and can be found in the Basilica of St. Rita in her hometown of Cascia, Italy.
Interesting note: some accounts claim that her body has changed positions inside the glass and that her eyes have opened and closed on their own.
Prayer and novena to St. Rita of Cascia follows...
