St. Rita of the Impossible

Today is the feast day of St. Rita, who I've adopted as one of my most influential patronesses. Her feast day lands conveniently on my husband's birthday. I've claimed before, only half jokingly, that St. Rita is my babysitter, helping keep my boys from harm when they're out of my sight. She also has a protective bubble around my vehicle, having finally broken my streak of citations (it's been 4 years since I was pulled over by police). Oftentimes the favor for which I was pleading is granted immediately after asking for her assistance. This is no joke, and I'd be doing a disservice to a great friend if I let her feast day pass without notice.

I was elated when I learned our parish was getting a statue of St. Rita this year. It was because of a story told by our current pastor, Fr. Iscara, that my devotion to her began. Fr. Iscara hails from Argentina, though he is a professor now at St. Thomas Aquinas seminary in Winona, Minnesota. On a trip back to his home land the card he needed to get back into the U.S. was lost. Obtaining a new one often takes months, if at all. He began fervently praying to St. Rita, and within a short time a new card was issued to Father. "I could really use that kind of help!" I thought.

Our parish's new statue of St. Rita

St. Rita of Cascia was an Augustinian nun from 14th century Cascia, Italy. She is the patroness of impossible causes and hopeless circumstances because of her difficult and disappointing life. Through her trials God used her in remarkable ways, not only while she lived, but now from heaven she assists those who plead for her intercession for their own seemingly impossible and hopeless circumstances.

From an early age St. Rita desired to become a nun, but her parents insisted that she marry at the age of twelve.  St. Rita did so in obedience to them.  Adding to her disappointment, the man her parents arranged for her to marry was cruel and harsh, and she spent 18 years in a very difficult marriage.  Her husband eventually became physically abusive, yet she met his cruelty with kindness and patience.  Two sons were born to her whom she loved deeply. After many years she eventually won her husband over to greater civility and kindness.

In the 14th century Italy was rampant with warring families caught in a vicious circle of assassinations and bloody vendettas  (think Romeo and Juliet).  St. Rita’s family was caught up in this strife that was so entrenched in society at that time.  Her husband was murdered as a result of the  infamous rivalry between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.  St. Rita mourned her husband’s death and interceded for his soul with great earnest.

Celebrating the feast of St. Rita in Cascia, Italy

Her two young sons, in keeping with the vice of the day, talked of avenging their father’s death.  St. Rita did all she could to guide her children into forgiveness, but was unable to dissuade them from their evil intentions. Prayer was her only hope. She prayed that God would change the evil swelling up in the hearts of her sons, or allow them to die before they had the chance to commit a mortal sin and in so doing be separated from God forever.  God granted her prayers.  Both of her two sons died within a year in a state of grace; they were prevented from following the evil path of their father.

After the death of her husband and her sons, St. Rita was all alone in the world and sought again to enter the convent.  She was turned away because of her family’s association with the civil strife; some of the sisters living in the convent were family relations of the men who were responsible for killing her husband.  To maintain peace, she was denied entry.

St. Rita, again facing crushing disappointment and yet another impossible situation, had recourse to prayer and the intercession of the saints.  St. Rita’s sincerity and spirit of charity and forgiveness prevailed and she was eventually granted entry.  She became known as a holy and prayerful nun, often meditating on the sufferings of the crucified Christ.

One day, while praying before a crucifix, St. Rita received a visible wound on her forehead.  This was a mystical yet visible mark (stigmata) of Jesus’ wound from the crown of thorns, symbolizing St. Rita’s unity with Christ in his sufferings.  She also enjoyed many mystical experiences with Christ during the forty years she lived in the convent.  She died on May 22 when she was in her seventies.

St. Rita certainly had a difficult life, but her heartbreaking circumstances drove her to prayer and helped her to become a holy woman. She began her work of intercession for sinners while she lived, starting with those closest to her heart.  Through her love and prayers she won the grace of conversion for her husband and both her sons.

Even though her life was full of sorrows and disappointments, she was consoled by being closely united with Christ.  He did not abandon her; rather He granted her profound and intimate graces.  Now a saint in heaven, St. Rita is the patron of impossible causes, sterility, abuse victims, loneliness, marriage difficulties, parenthood, widows, the sick, and bodily ills and wounds. She is also one of the Church’s incorruptible saints, her body venerated at the basilica named for her in Cascia, Italy.

The incorrupt body of St. Rita at Basilica of St Rita in Cascia, Italy.

St. Rita, pray for us!