Brothers of Mercy of St. John of God

St. Rita of Cascia

She was the only daughter, and although she wished to enter the convent, on the insistence of her parents she was obliged to marry a young man of good will but violent character. After 18 years of married life, Rita’s husband was assassinated. She not only forgave the assassins but begged God to take her two sons if necessary so that they would not seek a terrible revenge (Vendetta) on their father’s murderers. In truth, the two boys died only a short time after their father’s death. Alone now, Rita sought to actualize her desire to consecrate herself to God. The nuns, however, were reluctant to receive one recently involved in well-known assassination... perhaps out of fear of the anger of the assassins. However, by the force of her love, Rita was finally admitted to the Augustinian monastery of St. Mary Magdalene in Cascia. Here she lived the monastic life faithfully for 40 years. During the last 15 years of her life, Rita bore the wound of a thorn in her forehead, sharing in the Passion of the Lord in this singular manner. The Wound is still visible today in her incorrupt body. Rita died Saturday night, the 22^nd of May. What especially characterizes St. Rita is her calling to the various states in life: wife, mother, widow, Religious – all lived in the spirit of generous love. The prayers of the Mass of St. Rita remind us of her sharing the Passion of Christ, bearing in her forehead the Wound of the Thorn of Christ’s Crown and asks that our hearts be pierced with the thorn of salutary contrition. Love was the vital force by which Rita was guided in the various states of her life. By the way of the Cross, she was led to the joy and the light of the Resurrection. St. Rita is loved by the people, because she loves the people, and is invoked the world over as the “Saint of the Impossible”.

Labels: saints