Epilogue
As far as you may be unhappy, for what afflicts you, do not be afraid to trust your heart to this small, great Cascia nun.
Saint Rita was venerated by many of her faithful soon after her death for her prodigious events, referred to her intercession, so much so that she acquired the allocution of "saint of the impossible".
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Becoming Saints like Rita
Being devoted to Saint Rita for me means becoming a saint, as she was, and I always do my best, with the help of Grace..
The Pope tells us that we can all become saints. Rita, moved by God's love, was so every day of her life. She was a saint as a daughter, listening to her parents; she was a saint as a wife and mother, teaching love to her husband and children; she was a saint as a widow, forgiving her husband's murderers and then facing the pain of her children's death; and finally, she was a saint as a nun, praying, listening, welcoming, loving God in everyone she met... as she still does today.
Let us also commit ourselves, at home and away, with our loved ones and strangers ... let us choose Good. Let us follow the values Rita leaves us, like a map on the road of life. Let's build each day on the faith, hope, love, and forgiveness that Rita lived and that it is up to us to carry forward.
(Sister Maria Rosa Bernardinis,
Mother Prioress of the Santa Rita da Cascia Monastery).
Happy Transit
Approaching the time of her happy transit, Jesus made her understand how soon she would ascend to heaven, and from that hour she always saw with so much joy that it would not be enough for any teller to tell the story.
Having understood the intention of her Lord, she turned her serene face towards heaven and thanked him infinitely for having freed her from the world and drawn her to enjoy with him forever that immense and infinite glory. Then, turning and fixing her eyes around her sisters, who were present there, she said: "Now, my dear sisters, it is time for me to leave you. Mercifully she said: remain in the holy dedication of this loving Jesus..
When she had received the sacraments of communion and holy oil with great humility and devotion, she again exhorted all the reverend Mothers, her sisters, to the observance of the Rule of Father Saint Augustine, adding obedience to the Holy Roman Church.
At the end, putting her holy hands on the cross, she gave her last blessing, receiving it too from her mother Abbess, asking everyone for forgiveness.
Stay, I beg you, in her most holy obedience as you have all solemnly promised her, nor must you in any way fail to maintain it. Finally, remain in her most holy peace and fraternal charity and may God bless you. bless you.
And so that blessed soul ascended to heaven in the years of the Lord 1447, the twenty-second of May went to enjoy her beloved spouse Jesus Christ, whose soul was seen to be carried by angels to heaven by her companion, who cried out in her transit: do you not see, O sisters, do you not see, that our Rita is accompanied by so many angels with so much auspiciousness? Indeed, when that blessed soul separated from her body, three touches of the monastery bell were heard, which by itself rang, if it is well believed, that the angels had rung while accompanying that blessed soul, which was not without the most pleasant amazement of the surroundings and of all the honored land of Cascia; a sweet smell was heard throughout the monastery, her room was seen to shine as if there were the sun inside.
Then the soul ascended to heaven, and all night long were sung hymns, psalms, and praises to the Lord...
Rita's body remained so beautiful and so graceful that a ray of splendor seemed to come out of it, a clear sign of having been the home of a most holy soul. One could see in the forehead the wound of the thorn, which shone strongly, one could not in any way narrate, nor could there totally take place the pain.
(From the Life of Blessed Rita di Cascia of the Order of Saint Augustine, by Friar Agostino Cavallucci, osa, 1610).
Cult and canonization
Her beatification took place in 1628, 180 years after her death, during the pontificate of Urban VIII.
In 1900 Lion XIII made her canonized as a saint. Her devout believers call her "holy of the impossible" because from the day of her death he realized the needy, prodigal miracles, and events deemed unworkable without her intercession.
Catholic popular devotion for Saint Rita is still one of the most widespread in the world, but since 1600 and by the Augustinians it is particularly rooted, as well as in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
With the reform of the liturgical year of the Roman Martirology, May 22 is her feast.
The body
The remains of the saint are kept in Cascia, inside the basilica of Santa Rita, part of the homonymous sanctuary and erected between 1937 and 1947.
Medical Recognitions carried out in 1972 and 1997 confirmed the presence of osteomyelitis on the left frontal area, while the right foot shows signs of a disease suffered in recent years, possibly associated with sciatica. She was 1 meter high and 57 cm high.
Epilogue
Santa Rita will be able to speak to your heart with her extraordinary Love and inflate yours and through Her intercession to make her even more pleased to the Lord.
Santa Rita has for centuries left her mark of love for the extraordinary healing, conversion, and liberation of the obsessions obtained by God, still today is close to those who invoke her, because love does not have time and lasts forever.
The intercession of Santa Rita is so powerful that the devout people call her the "Holy of the impossible cases, advocate of desperate cases." So what are you waiting for, you also try to ask for his mighty intercession, who knows that your constancy is rewarded and you can join with those who thank God for having donated this great Santa.
