Saint Rita
May 22
Lives of the Saints
by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. edition
[1894]
- RITA OF CASCIA, WIDOW.
- RITA OF CASCIA, whose feast is celebrated on May 22, was born at Rocca Porena, Italy, about the year 1386, and died at Cascia in the year 1456.
Her parents opposed her desire to become a nun, and persuaded her to marry a man who, in a short time, lost his reputation on account of his cruelty. After being converted from his wicked ways, he was murdered by an enemy.
Rita’s two sons then resolved to take revenge, but through her prayers they repented. After their death, she applied several times for admission into the Augustinian Convent at Cascia. Repeatedly refused until God Himself cleared away all obstacles, she entered the convent, made her profession, and lived the life of a holy and devout Religious for forty-two years, “a shining example of every Christian virtue, pure as a lily, simple as a dove, and obedient as an angel.”
That “God is wonderful in His Saints” is easily proved in the life of St. Rita, and, owing to her great number of miracles, she is often styled “The Saint of the Impossible.”
Easter Weekday Saint Rita of Cascia, Religious Acts 19:1-8/Jn 16:29-33 (297).
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/rita-of-cascia-749
CATHOLICISM SAINTS ST. RITA OF CASCIA
*St. Rita.
An antique illustration of Saint Rita, Patroness of the Impossible, devoutly meditating on the sufferings of Christ, while an angel places a crown of thorns on her head.
**Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
After Rita’s husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate a partial stigmata.
Pope Leo XIII canonized Rita on 24 May 1900. Her feast day is celebrated on 22 May. At her canonization ceremony, she was bestowed the title of Patroness of Impossible Causes, while in many Catholic countries, Rita came to be known as the patroness of abused wives and heartbroken women. Her incorrupt body remains in the Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_of_Cascia
I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.
Ps 22:22