Among other reasons, Saint Rita (b. 1381 – d. 1457) was noteworthy in that she experienced all the possible states of life. She overcame the difficulties of each state of life with a generous love. Saint Rita, a saint with family problems, was born in 1381. She married at the age of fifteen years. Her marriage had been planned for her by her parents.

As a young girl Rita frequently visited the convento of the Augustinian nuns of Cascia and dreamed of one day joining their community. Her parents, however, promised her in marriage to a good man of strong and violent nature. He often kicked and struck his young wife for no fault of her own, such as when he was angry that he had lost money when gambling. She had two sons who, despite the influence of Rita, turned to the evil ways their father taught them. Her husband died a violent death made his peace with God before he died. Her sons died at an early age, but not before they asked to be forgiven and received the last sacraments.

Rita eventually entered the Augustinian convent. At the age of sixty years, a small wound appeared on her forehead, as though a thorn from the crown of thorns of Christ had penetrated her own flesh. For the last sixteen years of her life, Rita bore that external and painful sign of stigmatization and union with Christ. She died on 22nd May 1457.

Saint Rita was noteworthy in that she experienced all the possible states of life, and overcame the difficulties of each with a generous love and a profound spirit of penance, while always being a peacemaker and a healer of divisions.

She was declared to be one of the Blessed (beati) of the Church in the year 1627. The body of Rita was found to be in the same state as the time of her death, which had been about one hundred and fifty years beforehand. Her eyes seemed to have remained open for a time. Parts of the face of Rita have been waxed.

Photo galleries

Cascia, Italy: the Shrine of St Rita. Click here.
Milan: St Rita's Augustinian parish church. Click here

Links

Augustinian Church and Shrine to St Rita, Cascia.  Augnet pages about Cascia. Click here.

Rita of Cascia. By the Midwestern Augustinian Province, Chicago.
http://midwestaugustinians.org/st-rita-of-cascia

Rita of Cascia. She was born in the year 1381 in the village of Roccapoerna, near Cascia, Italy. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Lotti, considered her birth a very special gift from God, because Rita was born to them when they were advanced in age. As a young girl Rita frequently visited the convento of the Augustinian nuns in Cascia and dreamed of one day joining their community. From the Augustinians in California.
http://osa-west.org/?s=cascia

Shrine of Saint Rita. The official web page of the Augustinian shrine at Cascia, Italy. This was where Rita lived in community, and where her body now rests. The web page is available in both the English and Italian languages.
http://www.santaritadacascia.org

Santa Rita de Cascia, 1381-1457. Fiesta: 22 de mayo. (This web page was written in Spanish.)
http://www.corazones.org/santos/ritade_cascia.htm

AN3365