Saint Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita of Cascia is well known as much for her intercession from heaven as she is for her time on earth. Because of her perseverance through an extremely difficult married life, she obtained the title "the saint of the impossible and the advocate of desperate cases."

A product of her parent's advanced age, Rita showed a love of prayer as a very young child. She desired to enter the convent, but her parents asked that she marry. Seeing it as God's will, she submitted with a heavy heart. Her parent's choice for her spouse was a rough one. He was very violent and was notorious for terrorizing the neighborhood.

Saint Rita of Cascia spent 18 years using her heroic patience to gently deal with his verbal abuse and infidelity. Unfortunately, her husband became a very bad influence on their two sons, and she prayed for them constantly. Her prayers for her husband's conversion finally broke through, and he was fully remorseful for what he did. Sadly, the fruits of his past caught up to him and he was stabbed to death shortly after. When her sons found out, they vowed to avenge their father's death. Rita prayed that they not become murderers and shortly after they both contracted illnesses. She cared for them until their deaths and they left this world repentant.

Left without any family, Rita's desire to enter religious life returned. She applied for the Convent at Cascia and was reluctantly turned down three times. Initially, they only admitted virgins into their order, but later on the rules were relaxed and she was able to enter in 1413. Upon entering she continued the same selfless virtue that she had always performed in her earlier years. She had a great devotion to the suffering of Christ and received an open wound to her forehead. It was the impression that a thorn from Christ's crown would make. She died on May 22nd, 1457 and her body remained incorrupt to modern times.