Pious Catholic legends later recount that she was transported into the monastery of Saint Magdalene via levitation at night into the garden courtyard by her three patron saints. She was able to resolve the conflicts between the families and, at the age of thirty-six, was allowed to enter the monastery. 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, she 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. Her sons died of dysentery a year later, which pious Catholics believe claim was God’s answer to take 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. Accordingly, she petitioned God to take her sons rather than submit them to possible mortal sin and murder. Rita, fearing that her sons would lose their souls, tried to persuade them from retaliating, but to no avail. Rita’s sons wished to revenge 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 blood family feud and hoped to convince Rita’s sons to seek revenge. Rita gave a public pardon at Paolo’s funeral to her husbands’ 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 violently 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 of Cascia endured his insults, physical abuse, and infidelities for many years. Rita had her first child at the age of twelve. 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. According 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 Conciliatore di Cristo (English: Peacemakers of Christ). Rita of Cascia was born Margherita Lotti in 1381 in the city of Roccaporena (near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy) where various sites connected with her are the focus of pilgrimages. At her canonization ceremony, she was bestowed the title of Patroness of Impossible Causes, while in many Catholic countries, Rita came to be known to be as the patroness of abused wives and heartbroken women. Pope Leo XIII canonized Rita on May 24, 1900. Rita of Cascia intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate a partial stigmata. Rita of Cascia subsequently 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. ![]() Upon the murder of her husband by another feuding family, she sought to dissuade her sons from revenge. 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. Rita of Cascia was married at an early age. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Rita of Cascia (Born Margherita Lotti 1381 – May 22, 1457) was an Italian widow, and Augustinian nun.
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