![]() ![]() Popular religious tales recall that the bubonic plague, which ravaged Italy at the time, infected Bernardo Mancini, causing him to relinquish his desire to feud any longer with the Chiqui family. She implored her three patron saints ( John the Baptist, Augustine of Hippo, and Nicholas of Tolentino) to assist her, and she set about the task of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia. However, Rita persisted in her cause and was given a condition before the convent could accept her: the task of reconciling her family with her husband's murderers. Although the convent acknowledged Rita's good character and piety, the nuns were afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her husband's violent death and because she was not a virgin. Her sons died of dysentery a year later, which pious Catholics believe was God's answer to her prayer, taking them by natural death rather than risk them committing a mortal sin punishable by Hell.Īfter the deaths of her husband and sons, Rita desired to enter the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Cascia, but was turned away. She asked God to remove her sons from the cycle of vendettas and prevent mortal sin and murder. Rita, fearing that her sons would lose their souls, tried to dissuade them from retaliating, but to no avail. Rita's sons wished to avenge their father's murder. ![]() ![]() As her sons grew, their characters began to change as Bernardo became their tutor. Bernardo convinced Rita's sons to leave their manor and live at the Mancini villa ancestral home. Paolo Mancini's brother, Bernardo, was said to have continued the feud and hoped to convince Rita's sons to seek revenge. Rita gave a public pardon at Paolo's funeral to her husband's murderers. As time went by and the family feud between the Chiqui and Mancini families became more intense, Paolo Mancini became congenial, but his allies betrayed him and he was stabbed to death by Guido Chiqui, a member of the feuding family. Rita eventually bore two sons, Giangiacomo (Giovanni) Antonio and Paulo Maria, and brought them up in the Christian faith. According to popular tales, through humility, kindness and patience, Rita was able to convert her husband into a better person, more specifically renouncing a family feud known at the time as La Vendetta. Rita endured his insults, physical abuse and infidelities for many years. The marriage lasted for eighteen years, during which she is remembered for her Christian values as a model wife and mother who made efforts to convert her husband from his abusive behavior. Her husband, Paolo Mancini, was known to be a rich, quick-tempered, immoral man, who had many enemies in the region of Cascia. Her parents arranged her marriage, a common practice at the time, despite her repeated requests to be allowed to enter a convent of religious sisters. She was married at age twelve to a nobleman named Paolo Mancini. Īccording to pious accounts, Rita was originally pursued by a notary named Gubbio but she resisted his offer. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Ferri Lotti, were known to be noble, charitable persons, who gained the epithet Conciliatori di Cristo (English: Peacemakers of Christ). She was affectionately called Rita, the short form of her baptismal name. Margherita Lotti was born in 1381 in the city of Roccaporena, a small suburb of Cascia (near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy) where various sites connected with her are the focus of pilgrimages. Her body, which Augustinians believe to be incorrupt, remains in the Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia.Įarly life Sanctuary of Saint Rita at Roccaporena, Italy Basilica of Saint Rita at Cascia Santa Rita da Cascia (San Giovanni la Punta) At her canonization ceremony, she was bestowed the title of "Patroness of Impossible Causes," while in many Catholic countries, Rita came to be known as the patroness of abused wives and heartbroken women. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate a partial stigmata. After Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. Rita of Cascia, OSA (born Margherita Ferri Lotti 1381 – ), was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun. Spousal abuse, feud, family honor, loneliness Lost and impossible causes, sickness, wounds, marital problems, abuse, mothers Mother, Widow, Stigmatist, Consecrated Religiousīasilica of Santa Rita da Cascia, Cascia, Italy Portrait of Santa Rita, detail of the chest that contained the body, Sanctuary of Cascia. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |