By Corazon Damo-Santiago
The Loti family of Cascia, Italy, “instead of being alarmed, was mystified” at the sight of a swarm of bees flying around the crib of Rita Loti after her baptism at Laarne Parish. The bees entered and exited in Rita’s mouth without harming or causing injury to the child.
Alban Butler, who narrated this story in Lives of the Saints, implied that the child’s life will be one of industry, devotion and virtue.
Not so happy married life
Margherita was born in the village of Roccaporena near Cascia, Italy, in 1381. Her parents Antonio and Amata Loti were so devoted to the Lord’s passion, making them to be known as “Peacemakers of the Lord Jesus”.
Rita was born when the couple were of advanced age. Her birth was considered as a great blessing from God.
As a child she often visited the Augustinian nuns in the convent. She later desired to be a nun. But her parents arranged her marriage to Paolo Mancini, which at that time was customary for parents to do. Thinking it was God’s will for her, she consented to be married to him when she was 18 years old.
Paolo was employed as a watchman for the town. A minor official of the village, he was drawn in the conflict of the Guelphs and Ghibellines political factions. Paolo was an impetuous husband, unfaithful and sometimes had drunken rages. As a good wife, Rita offered prayers, penances and mortifications for her husband. Her only consolation: their twin sons who accompanied her to daily Masses.
Returning home from work one day, Paolo was ambushed and killed on a mountain path. She forgave the killers of his husband of 18 years, but his sons vowed to avenge their father’s death.
Rita prayed for God to take them rather than sin. Her sons got sick, and she nursed and prayed for them to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness. The twins died after a year. At 30, Rita considered entering the Augustinian religious community, but twice she was rejected. Some members of the religious community were relatives of the warring political factions, and so had reservations about her.
Rita prayed to her favorite saints and the hostilities between the Guelphs and Ghibellines were resolved. Still, her application was denied by the religious community.
A share of God’s passion
On a vigil before the Feast of the Assumption, her prayers were interrupted with the arrival of Saints Augustine, John the Baptist and Nicholas of Tolentino. The three saints transported her to the foot of the Blessed Sacrament in the Cascia convent chapel of the Augustinian nuns, according to A.J.M. and J.K. Mausolfe in Saint Companions for Each Day, New Revised Edition. The nuns found her in front of the altar when they arrived for the matin’s canonical prayers. They believed her story because of the “untouched locks on the convent doors”.
She was finally accepted as a religious in the Augustinian Convent of Cascia. At 32, she was an exemplar of obedience, piety and charity in the community. She cared for sick nuns and counseled people who went to the convent for help.
She felt a great desire to share Christ’s passion during their Lenten retreat in 1442. While meditating before a crucifix, a ray of light from the crown of thorns pierced her forehead. It left a wound with a putrid smell. So bad was the odor that she was kept in seclusion, according to Fr. Anthony Netikat, CM, in Saints for Everyday.
As the pious nun that she was known for by the community, she bore the sore wound with cheerfulness, exemplary patience and acceptance for 15 years.
Saint of the impossible
During the last four years of her life, she was bed-ridden and ate so little that it can be said that it was the Eucharist that sustained her. Despite her condition, she remained an inspiration of joyful disposition.
A few months before her death, a relative from her birthplace visited her. When the visitor asked what she can do for her, she requested for a rose from the garden of her parents. It was January and was not the season for roses but Rita specified where her relative could find it.
Just as Rita made the instruction, a lone rose was found in the garden. When it was brought to her, she was overjoyed, a sign of God’s love. Thus, her title, “Saint of the Rose”.
During her dying moments, she told her sisters: “Remain in the holy love of Jesus. Remain in obedience to the Holy Roman Church. Remain in peace and fraternal charity.”
She died on May 22, 1457. Beatified in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII, she was canonized on May 24, 1900, by Pope Leo XIII. Her incorrupt body is in Cascia.
Saint Rita shares with Saint Jude Thaddeus the title “Saint of the Impossible”. She is also invoked for unhappy marriages. Rita is also the patron saint of widows, abused victims, people who are sick, sterile and the wounded.
Pope John Paul II, during the 100th year of her canonization in 2000, said: “Rita interpreted well the feminine genius by living it intensely in both physical and spiritual motherhood.”
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Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons