She was daughter of Manuel Lopes and Josefa de Jesus Almeida. Few of those choices were made in ideal circumstances-not even when Rita became an Augustinian nun. Rita of Cascia (1381-1457) is one of only a very small number of saints who experienced all states of life as daughter, wife, mother, widow, and consecrated religious. This outstanding woman, was born on 5th March, 1848, in Ribafeita, a small village - Viseu Diocese - Portugal. Her overarching, lifelong choice was to cooperate generously with God’s grace, but many small choices were needed to make that happen. Rita became holy because she made choices that reflected her baptism and her growth as a disciple of Jesus. An “If only ….” approach to holiness never quite gets underway, never produces the fruit that God has a right to expect. Having faithfully and lovingly responded to Gods many invitations to her in the course of her seventy-six years, Rita returned to God in peace on May 22, 1457. Many people visit her tomb each year.Īlthough we can easily imagine an ideal world in which to live out our baptismal vocation, such a world does not exist. Rita's body was incorrupt and that it was seen on more than one occasion to rise up in its casket (ibid., 231-32). It was January, but when the cousin went into the garden she found a rose blooming, which she plucked and took to the saint.
She has acquired the reputation, together with Saint Jude, as a saint of impossible cases. Rita asked for a rose from the garden of her former home. She also counseled lay people who came to her monastery.īeatified in 1626, Rita was not canonized until 1900. Her care for the sick nuns was especially loving. She meditated frequently on Christ’s passion. When she developed wounds on her forehead, people quickly associated them with the wounds from Christ’s crown of thorns. Over the years, her austerity, prayerfulness, and charity became legendary. Unsuccessful at first because she was a widow, Rita eventually succeeded. After her husband was killed in a brawl and her sons had died, Rita tried to join the Augustinian nuns in Cascia. During her 18-year marriage, she bore and raised two sons. Her holiness was reflected in each phase of her life.īorn at Roccaporena in central Italy, Rita wanted to become a nun but was pressured at a young age into marrying a harsh and cruel man. Like Elizabeth Ann Seton, Rita of Cascia was a wife, mother, widow, and member of a religious community. Image: The Translation of Saint Rita of Cascia | Nicolas Poussin
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