Rita was born in the year 1381 in
the village of Roccaporena near Cascia, Italy. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Lotti,
considered her from birth a very special gift from God, for Rita was born to them as they
were already advancing in age. As a young girl Rita frequently visited the convent
of the Augustinian nuns of Cascia and dreamed of one day joining their community.
Her parents, however, promised her in marriage, according to the custom of the day to
Paolo Mancini, a good man of strong and impetuous character. Rita accepted her
parents' decision, resolved to see this as God's will for her.
The young couple were
joined in marriage and soon twin boys were born to them. Rita found herself occupied
with the typical concerns of wife, mother, and homemaker of Roccaporena, while Paolo was
employed as a watchman for the town. In Cascia, as elsewhere, a great rivalry
existed between two popular political factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. As
a minor official of the town, Paolo often found himself drawn into the conflict and the
strain which this caused probably accounts for the tension which he sometimes brought into
the Mancini household. By her prayer, patience, and affection, however, Rita was able to
ease the stress and worry her husband experienced, but she was not able to shield him
altogether from the dangers to which society exposed him.
One day as Paolo was returning home from work he was ambushed and killed. The
pain which this unexpected and violent death inflicted upon Rita was only compounded by
the fear she felt that her two teenage sons, moved by the unwritten law of the
"vendetta," would seek to avenge their father;s death. Rita's only
recourse was to prayer and persuasion. As it happened, the death of both boys from
natural causes a short time later removed them from physical and spiritual danger.
Despite the great burden she could still thank God that they had died in peace,
free of the poison of murder to which hatred and revenge might have otherwise drawn them.
Now alone in the world and without family responsibilities, Rita once more turned
to thoughts to the desired vocation of her youth, that of joining the Augustinian Nuns of
Saint Mary Magdalene Monastery. Some of the religious of the community, however,
were relatives of the members of the political faction considered responsible for Paolo's
death, and so as not to tempt the harmony of the convent. Rita's request for admission was
denied. Fortunately, she was not to be easily dissuaded from following what she knew
to be God's plan for her life. She implored her three patron saints, - John the
Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino - to assist her, and she set about the task
of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia with such success that her
entry into the monastery was assured.
At the age of thirty-six Rita pledged to follow the ancient Rule of Saint
Augustine. For the next forty years she gave herself wholeheartedly to prayer, works
of charity, striving especially to preserve peace and harmony among the citizens of
Cascia. With a pure love she wanted more and more to be intimately joined to the
redemptive suffering of Jesus, and this desire of hers was satisfied in an extraordinary
way. One day when she was about sixty years of age, she was meditating before the
image of Christ crucified as she was long accustomed to doing. Suddenly, a small
wound appeared on her forehead, as though a thorn from the crown that encircled Christ's
head had loosed itself and penetrated her own flesh. For the next fifteen years she
bore this external sign of stigmatization and union with the Lord. In spite of the
pain she constantly experienced, she offered herself courageously for the physical and
spiritual well being of others.
During the last four years of her life, Rita was confined to bed and was able to
eat so little that she was practically sustained by the Eucharist alone. She was
nevertheless, an inspiration to her sisters in religion and to all who came to visit her,
by her patience and joyful disposition despite her great suffering.
One of those who visited her some few months before her death was privileged to
witness first hand the extraordinary things wrought by Rita's requests. When asked
whether she had any special desires, Rita asked only that a rose from the garden of her
parents' home be brought to her. It was a small favor to ask, but quite an
impossible one to grant in the month of January. Nevertheless, on returning home the
woman discovered to her amazement, a single brightly colored blossom on the bush just as
the nun had described. Picking it, she returned immediately and presented it to Rita
who gave thanks to God for this sign of love. Thus the saint of the thorn became the
saint of the rose, and she whose impossible requests were granted became the advocate of
all whose own requests seem impossible as well. As she breathed her last, Rita's
final words to the sisters around her were, "Remain in the holy love of Jesus.
Remain in obedience to the holy Roman Church. Remain in peace and fraternal
charity."
Rita of Cascia died on May 22, 1457. Her body which has remained incorrupt,
is venerated today in the shrine at Cascia .
