Saint Rita of Cascia
|
|
Saint Rita (1381 – May 22 1457) was born at Roccaporena near Cascia in the Diocese of Spoleto (Spoleto), Italy. Her parents arranged her marriage, despite the fact that Rita repeatedly begged them to allow her to enter a convent. Rita's husband was a man of quick temper, and made enemies in the region. One night he was set upon and killed. (Some accounts say that he was ambushed, others that he provoked a quarrel and was killed.)
While Rita continued to care for her sons, it became clear as they grew up that they were intent upon exacting revenge for the death of their father. Rita sought to persuade them otherwise, telling them that such a killing would be murder. She also prayed that they would not carry out their plans. Both sons died of natural causes within the year.
With her husband and sons gone, she was able to become a nun and entered the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene at Cascia at age 36 and stayed there until her death in 1457. She was beatified by Urban VIII in 1627, to whose private secretary Fausto Cardinal Poli, born less than ten miles from her, much of the impetus behind her cult is due; she was canonized on May 24, 1900 by Leo XIII. Her feast day is May 22.
A large sanctuary of Saint Rita was built in the early 20th century in Cascia: it and the house in which she was born are among the most active pilgrimage sites of Umbria.
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13064a.htm)
- Account of Catholic tradition (http://www.catholictradition.org/rita2-2.htm)
- Saint Rita's Shrine (http://www.saintritashrine.org/)it:Santa Rita da Cascia