St. Rita Prayer
St. Rita of Cascia is called the Patron Saint of Impossible Causes. She is invoked when all human means have failed — for hopeless situations, desperate needs, and the cases the world has given up on. She is also the patron of abused women and difficult marriages.
About St. Rita
St. Rita of Cascia (1381–1457) lived in Umbria, Italy. From childhood she wanted to enter religious life, but at her parents' request she married a harsh and quick-tempered man. Through years of patience and prayer she converted him. After his death — and the death of both her sons, for whom she had prayed rather than see them seek revenge — she entered the Augustinian convent at Cascia, where she lived for forty years.
Rita is famous for asking to share in Christ's suffering. She asked to feel one of the thorns from the Crown of Thorns, and a wound appeared on her forehead that remained until her death. This wound gave rise to her patronage of impossible causes — a woman who lived through the impossible and found God in it.
She was canonized in 1900 and her body remains incorrupt in Cascia. Her feast day is May 22.
When to Pray to St. Rita
Catholics pray to St. Rita when facing situations that seem hopeless — a relationship that appears beyond saving, an illness with a poor prognosis, a legal situation that seems lost, or any need that human means cannot address.
St. Rita, patron of the impossible,
you lived through what could not be survived
and found God waiting on the other side.
We come to you with what we cannot fix,
what we cannot change,
what we have tried and failed and tried again.
Take our impossible thing
and place it in the hands of God.
Ask him to do what we cannot.
Ask him to see a way where we see none.
And give us the grace, while we wait,
to trust that impossible
is not a word God recognizes.
St. Rita, pray for us. Amen.
Original composition by Rosarycard.net. Biographical information sourced from Butler's Lives of the Saints.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is St. Rita of Cascia?
- St. Rita of Cascia (1381–1457) was an Italian Augustinian nun known as the Patron Saint of Impossible Causes. She endured a difficult marriage, the death of her husband and sons, and bore a wound from the Crown of Thorns on her forehead for fifteen years. She was canonized in 1900 and her body remains incorrupt in Cascia, Italy.
- Why is St. Rita the patron of impossible causes?
- St. Rita's life was marked by impossible circumstances that she faced with faith — an abusive marriage she endured patiently, the deaths of her husband and sons, her miraculous entry into a convent that had refused her three times, and a stigmatic wound on her forehead. Her willingness to trust God with the impossible made her the patron of those facing hopeless situations.
- When is St. Rita's feast day?
- St. Rita's feast day is May 22.
- Is there a St. Rita Prayer in Spanish?
- Yes. The Spanish form begins Santa Rita, patrona de lo imposible... Use the EN/ES toggle on this page to switch between English and Spanish.
- Is St. Rita's body really incorrupt?
- Yes. St. Rita's incorrupt body is enshrined in the Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia in Cascia, Umbria, Italy, where she has been venerated continuously since her death in 1457.
RosaryCard.net
Courtesy of rosarycard.net — Religious Gifts & Jewelry
Shop patron saint medals, rosaries & Catholic gifts handcrafted in the USA.
https://www.rosarycard.net