Feastday St. Rita: May the 22nd
When did St. Rita live: 1381 - 22 May 1447
Biography of St. Rita:
St. Rita of Cascia was born in 1381 in Roccaporena near Spoleto, Italy. From an early age she had the desire to become a nun, but her parents forced her to marry at the age of twelve. Her husband was cruel and harsh and she spent eighteen unhappy years. Together they had two sons, finally her husband was killed in a brawl. Both sons died and St. Rita tried to enter the Augustinian convent at Cascia, but she was refused because she was a widow. Finally the order gave her entry in 1413. St. Rita got sick and died on the 22nd of May 1457 at Cascia. According to the legend the relatives visited her when she lied sick to death in bed. They asked her if she had a wish. St. Rita requested a rose from the garden of her parents. It was January, however a relative went to Roccaporena to fulfill her desire and he returned with a flourishing rose, grown in the middle of the cold winter.
Statues and sculptures of St. Rita - portrayal, imagery and emblem: The sculptures represent St. Rita with the crucifix and the crown of thorns in her hands.
Patronage St. Rita: Patron saint of hopeless causes and of the unhappily married women