St. Rita of Cascia

Patroness of Desperate Causes

See our catalog for available rosaries and chaplets.
Below are examples of previous designs.
Write us to inquire about a custom design!

In this one-of-a-kind design, meadow colors offer a bouquet to St. Rita:   7mm Swarovski crystals of Tanzanite, and a sterling-capped lampwork bead reminiscent of summery field flowers.  The novena is completed with a sterling medal of St. Rita, cast from an antique.

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Here in New England, August brings a countryside swathed in purple!  In this one-of-a-kind design, meadow colors offer a bouquet to St. Rita:   The Paters beads, handmade lampwork, capture the vivid blossoms, just now appearing in the marshes.  The Aves are 7mm Swarovski in an ethereal Tanzanite color.  The rosary is joined with a bronze centerpiece featuring with St. Rita (shown) and the Sacred Heart on the obverse, and completed with a magnificent 1.5" bronze  medal of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, cast from an antique.

Prayers

Begin with the following prayer:

O Holy St. Rita,
exemplary Augustinian Sister,
we honor you for your devotion
to the Passion of Christ.
Although your early life
was filled with disappointment,
frustration, and unceasing tragedy,
you never lost faith and trust in God.
For this you are the patroness
of the impossible,
and our inspiration
and advocate in desperate circumstances.

Then, pray
3 times Our Father...
3 times Hail Mary... and
3 times Glory be...

Hymn to Saint Rita of Cascia

Come, virgins chaste; pure brides, draw near:
Let Earth exult and Heaven hear
The Hymn that grateful accents raise,
Our song of joy in Rita’s praise.

By fast her sinless frame is weak;
Her livid flesh the scourges streak.
In pity for her Savior’s woes,
Her days and even nights are closed.

The thorn-wound on her brow is shown,
The crimson rose in winter blown,
And full-ripe figs on frozen tree
At Rita’s wish the wonders see.

The widowed spouse and wedded wife
The way to heaven see in her life;
The way secure our Rita trod,
In life’s dim day, through pain, O God.

Praise to the Father and the Son,
Praise to the Spirit, Three in One;
O grant us grace in heaven to reign
Through Rita’s prayer and life-long pain.

Thou hast signed thy servant Rita
With the sign of thy Love and Passion.

O God! who didst deign to confer on St. Rita for imitating Thee in love of her enemies, the favor of bearing her heart and brow the marks of Thy Love and Passion, grant we beseech Thee, that through her intercession and merit, we may, pierced by the thorns of compunction, ever contemplate the sufferings of Thy Passion, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
 
This is the translation of the hymn of Lauds, office of Saint Rita, approved by Decree of S.C.R. 24 November 1900.

The Litany of Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint of the Impossible

For private recital only.

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.

Holy Patroness of those in need, St. Rita,
pray for us.
St. Rita, whose pleadings before the Divine Lord
are almost irresistible,
pray for us.
St. Rita, who for thy lavishness in granting favors
hast been called the Advocate of the Hopeless,
pray for us.
St. Rita, Advocate of the Impossible,
pray for us.
St. Rita, so humble,
pray for us.
St. Rita, so pure,
pray for us.
St. Rita, so mortified
pray for us.
St. Rita, so patient
pray for us.
St. Rita, of such compassionate love for
thy Crucified Jesus,
pray for us.
St. Rita, obtainer from Christ whatsoever thou asks,
pray for us.
St. Rita, on account of whom all confidently
have recourse to thee,
pray for us.
St. Rita, comforter of thy petitioners,
pray for us.
St. Rita, lavish to thy suppliants in so many cases,
pray for us.
St. Rita, aspiring only for the greater glory of God
pray for us.

By the singular merits of thy childhood,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the perfect union with the Divine Will,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By thy heroic sufferings during thy married life,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the consolation thou didst experience at the conversion of thy husband,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the sacrifice of thy children rather than see them grievously offend God,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By thy miraculous entrance into the convent,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By thy severe penances and thrice daily bloody scourgings,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the suffering caused by the wound thou didst receive from the thorn of thy Crucified Savior,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By that Divine Love which consumed thy heart,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By that remarkable devotion to the Blessed Sacrament,
on which alone thou did exist for four years,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the happiness with which thou did part from thy trials to join thy Divine Spouse,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].
By the perfect example thou did give to people of every state of life,
Obtain for us our request [think of it].

V. Pray for us, O St. Rita,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

Let us pray.
O God, Who in Thy infinite tenderness has vouchsafed to regard the prayer of Thy servant, blessed Rita, and does grant to her supplication that which is impossible to human foresight, skill and efforts, in reward for her compassionate love and firm reliance on Thy promise: have pity upon our adversity and succor us in our calamities, that the unbeliever may know Thou art the recompense of the humble, the defense of the helpless, and the strength of those who trust in Thee: Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Litany of St. Rita

History/Background

Known as the "Saint of the Impossible", Rita (1380-1456) overcame many difficulties throughout her life. She had a generous love and a deep sense of penance. She was a peacemaker and a healer of divisions.

Born in Roccaporena, Cascia, Italy around the year 1380, Rita Lotti at an early age wanted to become a nun. Her parents, however, insisted that she marry. So, at the age of 14, she married Paolo Mancini, a man who was a bit "rough around the edges".

Rita was a good influence on Paolo. They lived harmoniously for 18 years and had two twin sons. Paolo worked as the town watchman. One day, members of a local political faction ambushed and murdered him.

Their sons wanted to avenge their father's murder. Rita forgave her husband's killers. She prayed that her sons would die rather than follow the unwritten "law of vendetta" and take revenge upon the murderers. In fact, both sons did die from natural causes shortly afterwards.

Rita, now without a family, sought to fulfill her desires to become a religious sister. At first the nuns of the Augustinian convent of Saint Mary Magdalene did not want to receive her, partly because she had been a married woman and partly because some of the sisters were relatives of Paolo's killers. Rita persisted. She prayed and worked to establish peace between the hostile factions of Cascia. Finally she was accepted into the convent.

She remained in the cloister during the final 40 years of her life. Fifteen years before her death, while at prayer, she received on her forehead the mark of a thorn from Jesus' crown of thorns.

During the last four years of her life, Rita was seriously ill.  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."  She died May 22, 1457. Her remains are preserved in the Church of Saint Rita in Cascia.