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Portrait of St. Rita, detail of the chest that contained the body, Sanctuary of Cascia.
(Credit : Roscini Claudio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Like Elizabeth Ann Seton, Rita of Cascia was a wife, mother, widow, and member of a religious community. Her holiness was reflected in each phase of her life.

Early life

Margherita Lotti - “Rita” for short - was born in the small township of Roccaporena in Umbria, probably in 1371. Her parents, poor farmers and peasants, made sure she had good schooling and religious education in the nearby Cascia, in the care of the Augustinian friars. From the friars, Rita learned devotion to St. Augustine, St. John the Baptist, and Nicholas of Tolentino, whom Rita chose as her patron saints.

Wife and mother

When grown-up, Rita wanted to become a nun but was pressured at a young age into marrying a harsh and cruel man. During her 18-year marriage, she bore and raised two sons. After her husband was killed in a brawl and her sons had died of illness, Rita tried to join the Augustinian nuns in Cascia.

Augustinian nun

Unsuccessful at first because she was a widow of a murdered man , Rita eventually succeeded in becoming Augustinian nun because of her prayers and the intercessions of her patron saints.

Over the years, her austerity, prayerfulness, and charity became legendary. When Rita of Cascia developed wounds on her forehead, people quickly associated them with the wounds from Christ’s crown of thorns. She meditated frequently on Christ’s passion. Her care for the sick nuns was especially loving. She also counseled lay people who came to her monastery. She cared for the sick, and assisted the poor.

The saint of roses

More and more immersed in the contemplation of Christ, Rita eventually asked to be able to participate in his Passion, and in 1432, in prayer, she discovered on her forehead a wound as from the thorny crown worn by the Crucified One, which would remain until her death 15 years later. In the winter before her death, ill and confined to her bed, Rita asked a cousin, visiting from Roccaporena, to bring her two figs and a rose from the garden of her father’s house. It was January. Rita’s visitor humored her, thinking of her delirious.She was astonished to find the rose and the figs, and brought them to Cascia. For Rita, they were a sign of the goodness of God, who welcomed her two sons and her husband into heaven.

Death and Canonization

Rita died in the night between 21 and 22 May of 1447. Because of the great cult that grew up around her immediately afterwards, her body was never buried. Today, her body remains incorrupt and is venerated today at the Basilica of Saint Rita in Cascia, Italy.

St. Rita of Cascia was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900, over 400 years after her death. Known as the "Patroness of Impossible Causes," her elevation to sainthood was prompted by centuries of devotion, her incorrupt body, and numerous miracles attributed to her intercession. Many people visit her tomb each year.

Article by Catholic Time Staff