About St. Rita
St. Rita of Cascia, known as the “Saint of the Impossible,” lived a life marked by remarkable patience through extraordinary suffering in medieval Italy. Born in 1381, she initially wished to become a nun but obeyed her parents’ arrangement of her marriage to a violent husband. After 18 years of marriage during which she worked to convert her hostile husband through prayer and gentleness, he was murdered in a feud. Her two sons swore to avenge their father’s death, but Rita prayed they would die rather than commit murder – they both died of natural causes within a year. Finally free to pursue her original calling, she had to overcome three rejections before being accepted into the Augustinian convent in Cascia. There, she received a mysterious wound on her forehead, believed to be a partial stigmata from a thorn of Christ’s crown, which remained with her for 15 years until her death in 1457. She became known for her deep devotion despite multiple personal tragedies, and is particularly invoked as a patron saint of impossible causes, abused wives, and grieving mothers.
Prayers & Devotions
