St. Rita of Cascia

Saint of the Impossible

Rev. Fr. Joseph Sicardo

• Publisher: TAN Books
• Year: 1993
• ISBN:
  9780895552709
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

One of the most popular Saints in the Church for centuries, St. Rita is known as the "Saint of the Impossible" because of her amazing answers to prayers, as well as the remarkable events of her own life. Desirous of being a nun, she instead obeyed her parents and married. Her husband was cruel, and caused her much suffering, to which she responded with love and prayers and eventually converted him. After the death of her husband and two sons, Rita was able to enter a convent, where she devoted herself to prayer and penance. She abandoned herself totally to God, diminishing herself as He increased in her. An inspiring story of a soul completely resigned to God's will. 132 pgs,

CHAPTER 1

UMBRIA CASCIA AND ITS GREATNESS

IF YOU take a glance at the map of Italy, you will observe that the province of Umbria is set, like a gem, in the center of the Italian peninsula, which has the appearance of an elongated boot dipping down into the Mediterranean Sea.

The capital of Umbria is Perugia, a remarkably beautiful city, situated on a hill on the right of the Tiber. Among its many stately and majestic edifices, Perugia possesses a magnificent cathedral, built in the 14th century, that contains paintings by Barroccio, Manni and Signorelli. Attached to the cathedral is a valuable library, rich in works and manuscripts, among which is a codex of the Gospel of St. Luke, of the 6th century.

The inhabitants of Umbria are descendants of a long line of ancient and honorable ancestors. They are a God-fearing and God-loving people, and their proudest boast is that they have preserved the Faith “once given to the Saints.”

Travelers and pilgrims who have visited the province of Umbria are most emphatic and enthusiastic in praise of this picturesque wonderland, whose matchless blue skies and delightful climate, its rugged hills and smiling valleys, its fertile soil and its abundance of luscious fruits are sufficient proofs that bountiful nature has bestowed, with lavish hands, its choicest gifts on this garden spot of the Italian peninsula, whose native charms are the pride and boast of an admiring world. Truly may it be said of Umbria: “Beauty’s home is surely there.”

If we pass from the order of nature to the order of grace, Umbria becomes a shrine, so to speak, or in other words, a holy land, because it is the birthland of many illustrious saints whose names are the ornaments of Italy and glory and honor of the Catholic Church.

What land under Heaven’s dome can lay claim to a galaxy of saints like St. Benedict, St. Francis and St. Clare, both of Assisi? Time has not decreased the holy fame of these saints; on the contrary, time has augmented the glory and veneration of Saints Benedict, Francis and Clare. Their shrines are visited yearly by numerous travelers and pilgrims who are led, not by curiosity, but by an ardent faith, to go and visit the shrines of those holy persons who, while on earth, were faithful servants of God.

However, the religious glory and fame of Umbria do not rest alone on the trinity of saints mentioned above. This blessed province is the happy mother of at least a dozen saints. The Order of St. Augustine numbers in its long calendar of saints eight who claim Umbria as their birthplace, among whom must be specially mentioned Sister St. Clare of Montefalco and Sister St. Rita of Cascia, called by Leo XIII, of happy memory, “La perla preziosa de la Umbria”—“Umbria’s precious pearl.”

About seventy-five miles from Rome, in the southeastern part of Umbria, situated amid hills bordering the Apennines, is the ancient city of Cascia. Cascia was at one time the capital of a free and independent republic which consisted of four flourishing cities. Its inhabitants were a brave and sturdy people, and when in the year 1300 their rights and liberties were threatened by King Robert of Naples, the Cascians, who had tasted the sweets of freedom too long to tamely surrender their liberty, resisted with valor and bravery the King’s army. Success crowned their vigorous resistance and the intrepid Cascians won a glorious and decisive victory over their powerful enemies.

There are extant pieces of money, coined when Cascia was at the zenith of its power. On these coins is stamped the escutcheon of Cascia, represented by a young and beautiful maiden, seated on a throne resting on two dragons’ heads. The maiden holds a lily in her right hand, and in her left hand a serpent. These same heraldic arms may yet be seen emblazoned on one of the ancient gates which guarded the principal entrance to the once-famous city.

In the course of time, evil days fell upon the oncehappy and prosperous republic. Wars, and especially civil wars, brought disaster and dissension, and where hitherto had reigned peace and prosperity there began a reign of gloom and despondency. Finding themselves reduced to such an unhappy and miserable condition, and fearful that they would fall under that most terrible of God’s judgments—extermination—the inhabitants of Cascia and their equally unhappy neighbors placed themselves under the powerful protection of the Blessed Mother of God and became voluntary subjects of the Papal States.

The Cascia of today is, so to speak, but a shadow of what it was when “ancient and famous.” At present it is but a small town. The number of its inhabitants does not exceed six hundred. Yet small as Cascia is as regards the number of its people, it has within its walls many monuments which are living witnesses of the ardent and lively faith of its pious population.

In Cascia there is a beautiful parish church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and several houses of religious communities. The Augustinian Order has three communities in that little Italian town, one of friars and two of nuns. The friars’ monastery, a fine building, is dedicated to our holy founder, St. Augustine. One of the nuns’ convents, dedicated formerly to St. Mary Magdalen, is now called St. Rita’s convent. The other religious house is dedicated to the glorious virgin St. Lucy, who suffered martyrdom during the fierce persecution of the cruel and impious Diocletian.

But though the religious fame and glory of Cascia might safely rest on St. Rita, whose name is a household word in Cascia, still, the archives of that blessed town are the proud possessors of records which mention the names of many holy men, the sanctity of whose lives perfumed, as it were, the moral atmosphere of Cascia. The following are the names of a few of those saintly servants of God of whom Cascia is the proud mother:

Blessed Giovanni of Castro Clavano.
Blessed Ugolino, O.S.A.
Blessed Simon, O.S.A.
Venerable Andrea of Muciafore, O.S.A.

However, among the many cedars of this Augustinian Lebanon, our Sister St. Rita towers above all others, and the story of her marvelous life and the many wonderful miracles wrought through her intercession after her death will convince the reader that God is indeed wonderful in His saints, and that St. Rita, the Augustinian nun of Cascia, is truly, as a venerating world calls her, the Saint of the Impossible.

CHAPTER 2

THE BIRTHPLACE AND PARENTS OF ST. RITA

ROCCA PORRENA is the name of a small village, or rather hamlet, about three miles from Cascia. It is situated near a small river, in a small valley, at the foot of a high cliff, which, separated from the adjoining mountains, has the appearance of a perfectly formed pine cone. There is a tradition that at the time of Our Lord’s death on the hill of Calvary, an earthquake split the rocks of the mountains in the neighborhood of Cascia, and that this particular cliff remained completely detached from the mountains. On account of its rocky site, Porrena is called Rocca Porrena.

In this small village there lived, about the year 1309, a pious couple who, having plighted their troth at the foot of God’s holy altar, consecrated every day of their wedded life to the service of God and to the practice of those virtues which are most pleasing to God. The names of that worthy couple were Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri. Antonio was a native of Rocca Porrena; Amata was born at Fogliano, a pretty hamlet a short distance from Cascia.

Though possessing little of the world’s riches, Antonio Lotti earned more than enough as a tiller of the soil to enable himself and his good wife to live comfortably. Content with their humble lot, the happy couple felt no poverty, nor did they desire riches, and they gladly distributed to the poor and needy all they did not need for their own support and maintenance. Naturally, such generosity on the part of Antonio and Amata endeared them to the poor, the lips of many blessed them, and God, who rewards those who help His needy poor, showered His choicest spiritual blessings upon them.

Not only were Antonio and his pious wife generous to the poor and needy, but they were, in very fact, apostles placed by God in Rocca Porrena, and like apostles they endeavored to teach their neighbors by word and example that the only way to save their souls, that the only way to Heaven, was by fearing and loving God, as well as by avoiding and shunning sin and vice. The examples of the holy lives of Antonio and Amata, the peace and happiness that reigned in their humble home and the gladness and joy that were ever pictured on their countenances won many, first to admire and respect them, and then to imitate their holy manner of living. Truly may we say that the little vine-clad cottage of Rocca Porrena, the humble home of Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri, must have been a holy and a heavenly home, and were the world blest with more such homes, the world would also be blest with more than one St. Rita.

The true story of the apostolic work of the parents of St. Rita is known to God alone. Nevertheless, one of its chapters has been handed down to us by zealous and trustworthy chroniclers of the Order of St. Augustine. These chroniclers relate that the home of St. Rita’s parents was truly a house of prayer, a sanctuary of holiness, and that their lives were in perfect conformity to the commandments of God and the Church. They meditated morning and night on the Passion of Jesus Christ, and both had a heartfelt devotion to the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God. Antonio and Amata were known, for miles around Rocca Porrena, for their kindness and cheerfulness. Everywhere they went, they cast the radiance of their benevolence and soothed many an aching heart. In matters of confidence they vied even with the parish priest. Through their gentle influence family dissensions were healed, and through their prudent advice many indifferent souls were led back to the friendship of God.

Filled with the spirit and grace of God, there was born in the hearts of Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri the apostolic zeal of saving souls. They hated and detested sin, but loved the sinner. Hence whenever occasion required it, they discovered a way to approach those who were guilty of grievous sins, without embarrassing or offending them. They reproved them with kindness and continued their gentle reproof until even the most hardened sinners were moved and learned to hate and be sorry for their sins and hastened to be reconciled with God in the Tribunal of Penance.

Many times when the parents of St. Rita happened to be in the company of some of their neighbors who, not satisfied with their lot in life, would begin to murmur against the Providence of God, the pious couple would adroitly change the topic of conversation, and speak so feelingly of the Passion of Jesus Christ that their listeners would actually forget their trials and afflictions, and feel ashamed that they had not been willing to suffer a little for Him who suffered so much for them. Again, when malice, aided by calumny, had kindled the fires of discord and was fanning the flames of revenge in the hearts of individuals and families, it was then that Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri employed a holy diplomacy that must have been inspired by Heaven. They silenced the voice of calumny, disarmed the desire of revenge, restored harmony among enemies, and even transformed enemies into ardent friends. Such apostolic zeal, such gentleness in reproving sinners, such holy tact in banishing enmity and in settling quarrels and disputes, won for the parents of St. Rita the title: Peacemakers of Jesus Christ.

In Rocca Porrena there existed the custom of appointing every year a man and woman whose office or function was to settle the disputes and contentions that happened to arise among the inhabitants. This apppointment was made on the first Sunday of Lent in the parish church, and by the parish priest, who was always very careful to make a prudent appointment. On account of their spotless reputation and well-deserved popularity, it was very natural that Antonio Lotti and his wife Amata were repeatedly appointed the Peacemakers of Rocca Porrena; and biographers tell us that their judgments were always accepted as if they were the judgments of God.

Living in the midst of a holy peace and happiness, the fruits of a truly Christian life, there was one joy lacking to the home of Antonio and his spouse. God had sent no child to bless their marriage, and though they had prayed often and fervently for this great blessing, God seemed to be deaf to their prayers. Disappointed as they naturally were because their prayers were not answered, they still kept on praying; and even when they had become advanced in years, they redoubled their prayers, so great were their hope and confidence in God. God rewarded their hope and confidence and bestowed on Amata Ferri the same favor He had bestowed on Anna, the mother of Samuel, and on Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist.

One night, while Amata was praying in her humble home, an angel appeared to her, in a vision, and told her that it was the will of God that there would be born of her a daughter who would be, from her very birth, marked with the seal of sanctity, gifted with every virtue, and that she was to be a helper of the helpless, an advocate of the afflicted, and a guiding star in the firmament of the Church. Amata was consoled and made happy by the words of the angel, and when she told the glad news to her husband Antonio, both joined in a heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving to God, who was pleased to bless their old age with such a signal favor.

CHAPTER 3

ST. RITA’S BIRTH

FILLED WITH unspeakable joy and gladness that God deigned to look upon her with mercy, from the evening the angel made known to Amata Ferri that she had found grace with God and was to become a mother, both she and her husband Antonio spent their days, and the greater part of their nights, in close communication with God, awaiting the happy event. At length the time came when the little hamlet of Rocca Porrena, the least, indeed, of all the hamlets of Umbria, was to become famous as the birthplace of a child who in after years was to be known and venerated as a great Saint and servant of God. The biographers of St. Rita give the day, date and year of her birth as Saturday, May 22, in the year of Our Lord 1381, during the pontificate of Pope Urban VI.

Words cannot describe the indescribable joy of Antonio and Amata as, with loving eyes, they gazed on their little daughter whom they considered a precious gift of God, the fruit of their desires, and the reward of their long years of hope and confidence in God. The unexpected news that Amata Ferri had become a mother in her old age was the cause of much surprise, talk, and gossip among the inhabitants of Rocca Porrena. All considered the event as truly miraculous. Every man, woman, and grownup child of the little hamlet went to offer congratulations to the happy and overjoyed parents, and all who gazed on the smiling face of the newborn babe were charmed by the radiance of the little one’s wonderful beauty.

A few days after the happy delivery of Amata, she desired that her little daughter be baptized, and both parents began to consider what name to give her. While pondering over the choice of a name, God made known to the pious parents that it was His wish that their babe should be named Rita. Accordingly on the fourth day after her birth, the child of Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri was baptized in St. Mary’s, the parish church of Cascia, there being at that time no baptismal font in the church at Rocca Porrena. As was commended by God, the little babe was baptized Rita, a name till then unknown to the world, but since that time the sweet name of Rita has been given to many Catholic babes when they are made children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, by the regenerating waters of the Sacrament of Baptism.

Some authors who have written the life of our saint claim that she received at her Baptism the name of Margarita, and that Rita is a contraction of Margarita. But though we know that the practice of contracting or syncopating names, and especially the names of women, is very common in Italy, we follow the opinion of the learned Augustinian writer, Didacus, who tells us that the child of Antonio Lotti and Amata Ferri was baptized Rita. And furthermore, we read in the Decree of the Canonization of our Saint that it was announced to Amata, in a vision, that she should call her child Rita.

Shortly after Rita had been regenerated by the saving waters of Baptism, God attested, by a singular prodigy, that her name was not of human invention, but rather of heavenly origin. The day after h...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Translator's Note
• Publisher's Preface
• 1. Umbria, Cascia and Its Greatness
• 2. The Birthplace and Parents of St. Rita
• 3. St. Rita's Birth
• 4. The Early Years of St. Rita
• 5. St. Rita Begins to Lead a Life of Retirement, and Desires Ardently to Consecrate Her Virginity to God
• 6. St. Rita Sacrifices Her Will on the Altar of Obedience and Consents to Enter the Marriage State
• 7. St. Rita's Marriage
• 8. St. Rita, by Her Humility and Patience, Converts Her Cruel Husband
• 9. God Blesses the Marriage of St. Rita with Two Beautiful Children
• 10. The Virtues that St. Rita Practiced during Her Married Life
• 11. Death of Paolo-Sorrow of St. Rita
• 12. St. Rita Makes a Sacrifice to God of the Lives of Her Two Sons
• 13. The Penitential Life of St. Rita after the Death of Her Two Sons
• 14. St. Rita Applies for Admission into the Convent. Her Request Is Refused
• 15. St. Rita Enters the Maddalena Convent in a Miraculous Manner
• 16. St. Rita Distributes Her Temporal Goods among the Poor and Receives the Augustinian Habit
• 17. St. Rita Makes Her Solemn Profession. She is Favored with a Mysterious Vision
• 18. How She Observed the Vow of Obedience
• 19. The Evangelical Poverty St. Rita Professed and Practiced
• 20. The Angelic Purity with which St. Rita Observed the Vow of Chastity
• 21. Mortifications Practiced by St. Rita after She Became a Nun
• 22. St. Rita's Admirable Progress in Virtue during Her Religious Life
• 23. St. Rita's Love for Prayer. The Wonderful Efficacy of Her Prayers
• 24. St. Rita, Praying Before a Crucifix, Receives a Miraculous Wound on the Forehead
• 25. St. Rita's Journey to Rome
• 26. St. Rita's Illness and the Signs that Attested to Her Sanctity
• 27. St. Rita's Happy Death
• 28. Singular Events that Followed Immediately the Death of St. Rita
• 29. The Honors with which St. Rita was Venerated
• 30. The Privileges which the Body and Relics of St. Rita Enjoy
• 31. Miracles that God Wrought through the Intercession of St. Rita after Her Death
• 32. The Solemn Beatification of St. Rita
• 33. Festivities Held at Rome and Cascia in Honor of the Solemn Beatification of St. Rita
• 34. Miracles Wrought by St. Rita after Her Beatification
• 35. The Rapid Spread of Devotion to St. Rita
• 36. The Solemn Canonization of St. Rita
• 37. Conclusion
• Prayer to St. Rita