RITA OF CASCIA, ST.

"Saint of Desperate Cases"; b. Roccaporena near Cascia, Umbria, 1377; d. May 1447. After her husband had been murdered and her children had died, she entered the new Augustinian convent of Santa Maria Magdalena (now S. Rita) in Cascia. A mystic of the cross, she bore Christ's bloody thorn in her forehead for 15 years before her death. Because of her reputation for sanctity and miracles, her body and original coffin were transferred in 1457 to a decorated sarcophagus that still exists. Inside this sarcophagus is traced the bishop's recognitio cultus of 1457. She was beatified July 16, 1626, and canonized May 24, 1900. The sources for her life include the short versified life on the sarcophagus of 1457, the biographical introduction of the original list of miracles after 1457 included in her beatification process, and the authentic 15th-century painting with six medallions portraying some events of her life. This painting was described in the beatification process. The iconography of the saint is based on the 15th-century painting as well as on two pictures on the sarcophagus. A new basilica containing the body of the saint was erected in 1946. It is combined with a monastery, school, hospital, and orphanage and is a pilgrim center.

Feast: May 22.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 5:224–234. a. morini, "La cassa funebre di S. Rita da Cascia," Archivio per la storia ecclesiastica dell'Umbria 3 (1916) 75–80. f. campo del pozo, Vida de S. Rita de Cascia (Zamora 1998). a. gorini, La devozione a S. Rita de Cascia in Liguria (Cascia 1997).

[f. roth]