Saint Rita of Cascia: hoping against all hope

Summary:

Rita, short for Margherita, was born in 1381 in Roccaporena, Umbria. Her parents, Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri, were pious peasants according to some sources, bourgeois according to others, but more likely peacemakers for Christ at a time when vendettas were rife, dividing the population into rival clans. 

From an early age, Rita wanted to devote herself to God. However, her elderly parents encouraged her to marry Paolo Mancini, a young nobleman who could protect her in these troubled times. The village of Roccaporena, though situated at an elevation of 700 meters, was not immune to the troubles ravaging Europe. The plague claimed thousands of victims and, since 1378, the Church had been going through a serious crisis with the Great Western Schism. Pope Gregory XI, exiled in Avignon, returned to Rome to die, and his successor Urban VI had to contend with another pope, then a third. Urban VI and Clement VII fought a highly un-Christian battle for the seat of St. Peter. 

Where does Rita fit into all this?

Confronted with her husband's irascible and violent character, she succeeded, through much prayer, in softening him. The couple had two sons, Giangiacomo Antonio and Paolo Maria. Unfortunately, after eighteen years of marriage, Paolo was treacherously murdered by an opposing faction. At the age of thirty-six, Rita found herself with two sons who were ready to avenge their father. She implored the Lord to take them to Himself before they could commit a murder, and soon afterwards, the plague claimed them. 

She then presented herself at the Augustinian monastery in Cascia, but the abbess sent her away because some of the nuns belonged to the family of the enemy clan. Undaunted, Rita went from house to house, urging everyone to reconcile. God granted her this miracle and, with great spiritual joy, she finally joined the monastery of St Mary Magdalene in Cascia. 

Numerous miracles were attributed to Saint Rita during her life, at the time of her death, and throughout the centuries that followed:

• The miracle of her birth: she was born to older parents, like Isaac, born to the aged Sara and Abraham. 
• The miracle of the bees: while her parents were working in the fields, little Rita's bassinet was covered with a swarm of bees. To everyone's amazement, the bees found their way into the baby's mouth without stinging her. 
• The miracle of the vine: at the command of the Mother Superior, Rita watered a dead, withered vine every day. This daily training in obedience and humility bore fruit, as the vine blossomed. Seven hundred years later, the vine at the Cascia monastery is still producing delicious grapes.
• The miracle of the roses: on her dying bed, Saint Rita asked a relative to pick her a rose from her old garden in Roccaporena. The relative replied, "The roses are dry in winter!", but to her great surprise, she found a blooming rose to take to Rita. 
• The miracle of the thorn: while Rita was praying intensely, asking to share in Christ's sufferings, a thorn detached itself from the crucifix and planted itself in her forehead. The wound never closed again, except during her pilgrimage to Rome. 
• The miracle of her death: Rita died on May 22, 1457, at the age of 76. On that day, a heavenly light illuminated the monastery and a scent of roses wafted over her body. The people of Cascia immediately proclaimed her a saint. She was beatified by Urban VIII in 1628 and canonized by Leo XIII in 1900.
• The miracles that occurred after her death: in 1457, the year of Saint Rita's death, a young girl, mute from birth, was brought before her coffin, and soon afterwards, to everyone's amazement, she began to recite the Hail Mary. The same year, a young woman named Lucia, who had come to pray to her, regained her sight.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Saint Rita is still very relevant today for a number of reasons:

• She was a victim of domestic violence, but thanks to her persevering prayers, her husband's temper softened. In France, statistics show that a man kills his wife or ex-wife every three days, and a rape occurs every seven minutes. 
• Rita is invoked as a peacemaker. Cardinal Parolin, the Holy See's Secretary of State, invoked her intercession to end the war in Ukraine.
• She is the saint of impossible causes: overpopulation, global warming, the nuclear threat... Is our world lost?
• She is the saint of hopeless cases. The priest of the Saint Rita chapel, located on boulevard de Clichy in Paris, and members of a prison visiting ministry go out every day to minister to prostitutes.

Going further:

St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible, by Rev. Father Joseph Sicardo (TAN Books; November 1, 1993)

More information:

• Movie Saint Rita  2004