St. Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita, the Patron of Christian Mothers and “Saint of the Impossible” will be honored on Monday, May 22, at both morning Masses. The celebration will include the traditional blessing and distribution of roses.

Rita was born Margherita Lotti in 1381 in Roccaporena, near Cascia, Italy. While Rita desired to join the Augustinian Convent, her parents promised her in marriage to Paolo Mancini, a man of impetuous character. Rita accepted this arrangement as God’s will. Twin boys were born of their union and Rita was occupied with the typical concerns of a wife, mother, and homemaker. Paolo was the town’s watchman but as a civil official was often drawn into great rivalry that existed between two political factions, the Guelphs, and the Ghibellines. The strain probably accounts for the tension which he brought home. By her prayer, patience, and love Rita was able to ease the Paolo’s stress but was unable to shield him from the political intrigues that led to his murder. Her sons vowed to avenge their father’s death. Rita prayed that God prevent this! As it happened, her sons died of natural causes before they could act.

Alone in the world and free of family responsibilities, Rita turned her thoughts to desire of her youth, that of joining the Augustinian Nuns, but her application was met with resistance from Sisters whose relatives were responsible for Paolo’s death and her request was denied. Rita responded by working to establish peace between the hostile parties. Her success assured her entry into the convent in which she lived for the next 36 years.

Her intense devotion to Christ Crucified caused her to receive a wound on her forehead, as though a thorn from Christ’s crown of thorns had pierced her flesh. She bore this pain for the next 15 years offering it for the well-being of the others. Rita was confined to bed during the last 4 years of her life and was practically sustained by the Eucharist alone. Her visitors marveled at her patience and joyful disposition. When her sister-in-law asked if Rita had any requests, she asked only that a rose from her parents’ home be brought even though it was the month of January. Her sister-in-law discovered a single blossom on the bush where Rita said it would be. Since then, this sign of love became associated with Rita of Cascia. Rita died on May 22, 1457. Her body has remained incorrupt.

St. Rita was born in 1381 in Roccaporena in Umbria, Italy. She lived with a brutal husband with whom she had two sons. After the violent murder of her husband, she urged forgiveness, in contrast to the customary "vendetta" of her day. After the death of her sons, Rita became an Augustinian nun and spent nearly 40 years in prayer, contemplation, and service to the sick and poor. Toward the end of her life, she received a wound from a thorn from the crown of thorns. She died in 1457. She is the patron of Christian mothers and of those in desperate situations.

The tradition of blessing roses on Saint Rita's feast day originates from a visit her cousin made to her at the convent. Rita was very ill. On taking her leave, her relative asked Rita if she could do any favor for her. "Yes, cousin," said the saint, "bring me a rose from the garden of my old home in Roccaporena." The request was surprising, since it was midwinter and exceedingly cold. Nevertheless, to humor the saint, her cousin told her that she would try to fulfill the request, though she thought it impossible to find a rose. St. Rita said, "My dear cousin, there is nothing impossible to God." In fact, to her great amazement, her cousin found in the garden, on a sapless and leafless rosebush, a beautiful red rose in full bloom. She plucked the rose, and brought it to Rita. The saint received the rose with joy and she gave thanks to God as she contemplated her sweet Jesus crowned with thorns.