Saint Rita from Cascia
John Paul II called her "the pearl of Umbria", referring not only to her short stature and slim build, but to what she is for the Church. St. Rita of Cascia, like a pearl, precious and wonderful, still remains someone unknown, hidden.
Rita fascinated us by the fact that she has fulfilled all the vocations facing a woman. She was a wife and mother, widow, religious sister, mystic. She was involved in the life of her community, supported the poor and the sick, and at the same time mastered the difficult art of prayer and contemplation. The fame that surrounded her during her lifetime did not make her a "star", nor did it deprive her of a critical and realistic approach to herself and life. She lived not only a long time, but also in a colorful, interesting and multi-layered manner. Despite the passage of years, her person does not fade, and it seems that it is quite the opposite: she returns with a message that helps many contemporaries find inner peace, and God in it.
She was born around 1380 to a family of poor highlanders in Rocca Porena, near Cascia (Umbria) as the only child. According to the legend, she was supposed to be a child prayed by pious parents. She was baptized with the name Margherita (Rita is the diminutive).
She is called "a Saint of the impossible", "hopeless". God made her the patron of the suffering to the limit, of those whose lives seem to be lost. She helps in family crises and reconciles the quarrelsome. People suffering from cancer and other serious diseases are resorting to her more and more often. She helps.
Love for the Crucified
Rita has suffered a lot in her life. First, the suffering came from others. Against her will, she was married, to a man, who was good at heart, but crude and violent. Before she changed him with her love, it took several years, many prayers, tears and penances. When she managed to put her marriage and family life on the right track, when she could enjoy her husband's love and two wonderful sons, suffering came again. The husband was cruelly stabbed to death by his former companions. Rita probably knew their names. She knew who they were, but she did not want to reveal them to the family who demanded revenge. In the same year, there was another experience of the cross. Rita prayed that God would take her sons out of this world rather than become killers, avengers of their father. And soon Rita - the widow mourned the death of her teenage children. The plague came, the boys died.
Rita's heart was filled with suffering, which only increased the persistent demands of her husband's family to reveal the names of his killers and enable revenge. Rita repented for three years and prayed alone, preferably on the top of a high hill - Scoglio, near her home village. She asked God for the miracle of reconciling families and that she would be able to fulfill her childhood dream: to enter a convent. So it happened. She lived to see the day her husband's family forgave the killers in public, and that brought the case of murder to the end. It would seem that it would be easier for her now. The Augustinian Sisters of Cascia accepted her into a convent where, in the silence of the convent, she could be close to Christ, whom she loved above all else. Indeed: Rita was happy in the order. She could devote herself to prayer, even contemplation of God's most holy mysteries. Moreover, she devoted a lot of time to the poor and the sick. All the poor people in the surrounding towns and villages knew her. She brought not only bread and herbs, but a kind word and joy which she unknowingly radiated.
Long-awaited suffering
St. Rita was no stranger to the suffering of others. There was a lot of it. It hurt badly. But there was more suffering in her life that she wanted and desired. Rita, in love with the mystery of the cross, longed to unite herself with the Crucified One. That is why she asked Christ so that she could suffer like him and thus help him in saving the world. She wanted to be a victim, to complete Christ's torment, as St. Paul to plead for peace and reconciliation for the world. Christ heard her prayers. She received an extraordinary gift: the stigma of a thorn from His crown. There was a deep, thorn-shaped wound on her forehead that was causing great pain. The sisters had to isolate Rita because of the bad smell from the wound. Locked in her cell, isolated from others, she suffered and prayed, fasted and mortified. St. Rita did not want to suffer just to suffer. She wanted to unite herself with Christ Crucified, attracted by his love and ardent desire to participate in the work of saving souls. Rita's suffering had a sacrificial sense. She wanted it not for herself, but for others. It is significant that Rita wanted nothing for herself. Even in her spiritual life, she did not want gifts and spiritual goods for herself. Christ delighted her, who “he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave," stripped of his garments, mocked, crucified. Christ who sacrificed himself to the Father on the altar of the cross. Rita wanted to work with him. Help Him. To do so in order to respond to His love.
She died of tuberculosis on May 22, 1457 in Cascia. There, her intact body rests to this day. The saint's sanctuary, which includes her family home in Rocca Porena and the monastery and church in Cascia where she is buried, is a place of crowds of pilgrimages. The fame of holiness began to draw many pilgrims to Cascia. Extraordinary things were happening at Rita's grave that made the monastery famous. When, after a few years, a violent fire broke out in the church, despite the fact that the entire church burned down, the cypress coffin with Rita's body remained intact. Images and prayers to God's servant began to multiply. Pope Urban VIII in 1628 approved her cult. However, her solemn canonization took place on May 24, 1900. It was performed by Pope Leo XIII.
Let's remember Rita
Today, Cascia is a small town, bustling with life, especially in spring and summer. Pilgrims from all over the world go there to see the saint and pray in their most difficult matters. Saint Rita's body rests in a crystal urn in the basilica. It has survived to this day untouched by the passage of time. The sisters placed votive offerings around the urn. There are many of them. The golden injection syringes left by young drug addicts who are grateful to their patron for help in overcoming the addiction predominate. There are photos of damaged cars and people who survived road accidents. There are also tons of pictures of toddlers, babies or older. The sisters say that since the death of St. Rita to this day, whenever miracles are performed because of her, even far from Cascia, the body of the saint gives off a pleasant, intense scent, like a rose. Then the sisters know: Rita helped again.The person of St. Rita does not lose her shine also because she reminds us of one of the greatest desires of our heart: peace. Rita is the patron of the feuding. She reconciles spouses and families. People whose hearts are full of regret for the harm they caused, pray to her. Those who want and do not have the strength to forgive. Rita helps in honestly saying, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." The message that resounds in Cascia is an invocation of hearts that are restless, internally divided, torn, and sore because of the wrongs they have suffered, to overcome evil with good.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george