Rita of Cascia
Italian Augustinian nun
Rita of Cascia (born Margherita Ferri Lotti; 1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italian Catholic widow and Augustinian nun. After Rita's husband died, she joined a small community of nuns who later became Augustinians. Therein, she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate partial stigmata.
Pope Leo XIII canonized Rita on 24 May 1900. Her feast day is celebrated on 22 May. At her canonization ceremony, she was bestowed the title of "Patroness of Impossible Causes". In many Catholic countries, Rita also came to be known as the patroness of abuse victims, couples and marriage difficulties, widows, and the sick. Her bodily remains lie in the Basilica of Santa Rita of Cascia in Umbria.
Early life
Margherita Ferri Lotti was born in 1381 (or 1371, according to other sources) in Roccaporena, a small hamlet near Cascia, Umbria, where various sites connected with her are the focus of pilgrimages.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rita of Cascia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.