Saint Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible by Fr. Joseph Sicardo, OSA, 1916 Part 4
Saint Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible by Fr. Joseph Sicardo, OSA, 1916 Part 4
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The Rose Legend and Why Roses Are Associated With Her:
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For four years after her return from Rome, St. Rita suffered more pain from the wound on her forehead than before she made the journey to Rome, so that her life became really a martyrdom. Moved with compassion for her suffering, or pleased with her wonderful patience, the Son of God came from Heaven to visit and console her with His Divine presence. This Divine visit filled the soul of St. Rita with extreme delight and gratification, and her heart was so consumed by the words of her divine Spouse, that, having sunk her understanding in the extreme bliss she enjoyed from gazing on the Divine beauty of Jesus, she would have broken the earthly bonds that detained her soul in the prison of her body, to enjoy forever the happiness she saw, were she permitted to do so. St. Rita gazed attentively at her beloved Spouse, who, like a flower from the Heavenly paradise, and a lily from the celestial valleys, invited her to satisfy her thirst and fill her heart with delights by enjoying the sweetness His Divine presence cast around her. But recognizing that the ocean of happiness in which she was engulfed was only temporal, and thirsting to enjoy the eternal, she ardently desired to follow her Divine Spouse, who disappeared from her view after He had given her a foretaste of what His chosen ones enjoy in Heaven.
After Our Lord had disappeared, there remained in the heart of St. Rita so deep a wound that she became so ill with Divine love, suffering so violent an attack of fever, that she was obliged to betake herself to her poor and hard bed, whereon she lay, more dead than alive, without anyone knowing the cause of her illness. Thus for four long and weary years, St. Rita suffered the pains of love, in order that the gold of her patience might be refined and that she might make a new ring, set with the most precious jewels, which she would wear at the celebration of her espousals with her Divine Lord when she made her entrance into the Kingdom of His glory. Besides the pains of her illness, she suffered the torments of the wound on her forehead, and these torments were made more poignant by the continual movements of the little worms which had also increased in number. But anxious to suffer more and more, St. Rita bore every pain of her agony with the most admirable patience, and during all the years of her illness, she never uttered a single sigh or word of complaint, but respired rather, in all her actions, the celestial love that was consuming her heart with the flames of the Divine fire. Having become ill with Divine love, because her beloved Spouse had left her after a short visit, St. Rita experienced a love, strong as death, which, however, did not take away her life but rather spared it, so that she actually suffered the pains and agony of death without dying. However, in the midst of all her afflictions, St. Rita sought no human relief. Her chief delight was to feed her soul and body with the Bread that came down from Heaven, and to quench her thirst with the bitter chalice of the Passion of her Divine Spouse, Jesus Christ. Thus for four years her life was really miraculous, nourished only by the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
To show how dear St. Rita was to her Divine Spouse and to make manifest the fact that St. Rita can obtain even the impossible from God, if she asks it, Divine providence disposed her, while she was ill, to ask that a flower and two figs be brought her from the little garden which St. Rita at one time owned and cultivated with her own hands-----a garden which could be truly called the inheritance of God, and the garden of her Heavenly Spouse, because she had sold it before entering the convent and had distributed the proceeds amongst His needy poor.
One day in the month of January, a cousin of St. Rita's came to the Maddalena Convent to visit her. The visit was a short one, for that particular day St. Rita was very ill and suffered much. On taking her leave, her relative asked St. Rita if she could do any favor for her. "Yes, Cousin," said the Saint; "bring me a rose from the garden of my old home in Rocca Porrena." St. Rita's request surprised her cousin, who thought that perhaps her mind was affected by her illness, and besides, as it was midwinter and the climate of Rocca Porrena exceedingly cold, her relative and the nuns who were in attendance could not be persuaded that the rose could be found. Nevertheless, to humor the Saint, her cousin told her that she would try to fulfill the errand, though she thought it would be impossible to find what she asked for. St. Rita responded: "My dear cousin, there is nothing impossible to God." The security with which St. Rita spoke these words determined her cousin to set out at once for Rocca Porrena, and to her great astonishment and amazement, on entering the garden she saw, on a sapless and leafless rosebush, a beautiful red rose in full bloom. She plucked the rose, and returned to Cascia as quickly as possible and gave the rose to St. Rita. The Saint received the rose with great joy and gladness, and a heavenly smile lighted up her countenance as she kissed it reverently, while her heart gave thanks to God as she contemplated in that rose her sweet Jesus crowned with thorns. St. Rita then handed the miraculous flower to the superioress, and from her hand it passed into the hands of all the nuns, who, after admiring its marvelous beauty, returned fervent thanks to God, who, to make manifest the sanctity of their beloved sister Rita, had caused a most beautiful rose to grow in the midst of a cold winter. To commemorate this miraculous event, roses are blessed each year in all the churches of the Augustinian Order on the feast of St. Rita and distributed to the faithful.
Shortly after the miracle of the rose, God wrought another miracle at the request of St. Rita. On the occasion of another visit to the convent, in the same month of January, St. Rita asked her cousin to go and bring two figs she would find on a certain frozen fig tree in the garden of Rocca Porrena. This time, without the least doubt in her mind, the woman hastened to bring the figs. She had no difficulty in finding the tree St. Rita had described, and on it were two ripe and luscious figs. With no less joy than admiration at seeing this second miracle, she picked the figs and brought them to St. Rita. St. Rita received the figs with the greatest joy, and again did the nuns thank and praise God for having qualified, for the second time, the sanctity of their holy and beloved sister. But St. Rita, elevating her spirit to a contemplation of the mysterious, considered the two miracles a warning that the time was near at hand when she would pass from this life, to enjoy for all eternity the incorruptible flowers and seasoned fruits of the Celestial paradise.
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Her Death and Miracles:
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St Rita knowing that the miracles of the figs and the rose were Divine predictions of her coming death, she already seemed to hear the very same words that the Divine Bridegroom of the Canticles spoke lovingly to His spouse: "Arise, make haste, My love, My dove, My beautiful one, and come. For winter is now past, the flowers have appeared, and the fig tree hath put forth her green figs. Show Me thy face, and let thy voice sound in My ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely."
St. Rita considered these words as spoken to herself, because from the day she saw the beautiful and marvelous rose and the ripe figs, she was certain that the time was near when the mortal bonds that bound her to this life would be burst asunder, and she would leave this valley of sorrow and tears to go to enjoy forever that life and that happiness which she most ardently desired with her Divine Spouse and Master, Jesus Christ.
To make St. Rita sure and certain of her near departure from this world and to invite her to the joys and delights of the Celestial paradise, Jesus Christ, accompanied by His blessed Mother, appeared to St. Rita a short time before her death, and thus said to her: "I am your Celestial Spouse, who kindled in your heart the fire of Divine love and filled your soul with virtues, in accordance with your ardent desires. I am now come to tell you glad and joyful news. Rita, within a few days, you will depart from this world, to enjoy an eternal rest in your Celestial country."
This visit of Jesus Christ and His most blessed Mother filled St. Rita's heart and soul with a flood of unspeakable joy. She knew now that the winter of her torments and sufferings was at an end, and that the gates of Heaven were soon to be opened to receive her. A struggle was now going on between the body and soul of St. Rita. Her body, though weakened and emaciated by fasting and penance, wished to retain the soul; and the soul wished to break the prison bars of the body to be with Christ, to whom St. Rita was already united, so that she could cry out with the Apostle St. Paul: "And I live, now not I-----though detained in this valley of tears-----but Christ liveth in me." Many and fervent were the heartfelt thanks that St. Rita gave to Jesus for having favored her with His Divine presence, nor did she forget to thank the Blessed Virgin Mary, the sweet Mother of her Divine Spouse, whom she loved with a most tender and ardent love.
When the nuns of the Maddalena learned that St. Rita had been favored with a vision of Jesus Christ and His most blessed Mother, and that it had been revealed to her that she would soon leave them to be united with her Divine Spouse, who was their Spouse also, they kneeled around her bed, and gazed, with tearful eyes, on their beloved sister, whose face was radiant with Heavenly joy as she spoke these humble and tender words: "My dear Superioress and Sisters: The time is at hand when I must go to live with my beloved Spouse. I may have offended you by not loving you enough, or by not being at times as obedient as our holy rule prescribes. I ask you to pardon all my faults against charity and obedience. And because I know that I have caused you some inconvenience and annoyance by reason of my prolonged infirmity, and in particular on account of the ugly wound that I have borne so long on my forehead, I ask you most humbly to have pity on my frailty, and if I have offended in anything, even involuntarily, pardon my ignorance, and pray to God for me, that your prayers may obtain for my soul that mercy and peace I hope from the Divine clemency."
The nuns, hearing the tender words of St. Rita, wept bitterly at the very thought of losing her who had so often consoled them by her very presence, and edified them by her holy example. St. Rita, observing that the nuns were filled with sadness, consoled them by saying: "Sisters, I am not afraid to die. I know already what it is to die. It is to close the eyes to the world and open them to God."
St. Rita then asked to receive the last Sacraments, and having confessed, the while shedding abundant tears, she was anointed and received as viaticum the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, which calmed at once the tempest of pains that she had suffered without intermission, from the time her forehead had been pierced by the sacred thorn. Being consoled by the sacred iris of the Divine clemency, St. Rita began to enjoy a total rest from the antecedent torments, and to taste of the eternal delights in the contemplation of the riches and abundance of the home of God. St. Rita was now knocking at the gates of Heaven, asking her divine Spouse to open them. She also implored the help of the Queen of Heaven, the ever glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Angels, and the intercession of her three powerful protectors, St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine and St. Nicholas of Tolentine. She felt sure that these three saints were waiting to introduce her into the palace of eternal glory, as they had conducted her into the haven of religion.
Realizing that her last hour had come, St. Rita humbly asked the blessing of her superioress, wishing by this last act of submission to enhance the merits of her most perfect obedience. And because she had always loved her sisters in religion with a holy love, her affectionate heart prompted these parting words: "Love God above all things. His goodness being infinite and His beauty without comparison, you should keep always before your minds the great love He has for you as Father, Spouse and Master. Love one another with a reciprocal chaste and holy love. Observe faithfully the rule you have professed, and venerate with a religious affection our great and holy father St. Augustine, who has pointed out to you, by his rule, the royal road to glory. Be obedient to Holy Mother Church, and to your superioress, as you promised when you made your solemn profession." Having concluded this exhortation, St. Rita blessed the nuns with the last words she was heard to utter on earth: "May God bless you and may you always remain in holy peace and love with your beloved Spouse Jesus Christ." Then, fixing her eyes on the Crucifix, St. Rita's soul took flight from this world to an eternal rest in the arms of her Divine Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. At the very moment St. Rita expired, one of the nuns saw her soul being borne to Heaven by Angels.
Sister St. Rita died during the reign of Pope Callistus III, on the twenty-second day of May, in the year of Our Lord 1457. She had reached the mature age of seventy-six years, of which forty-six years she had been an Augustinian nun.
SCARCELY HAD St. Rita left this world to enjoy the eternal happiness of Heaven than there took place events that prove how precious her death was in the sight of God. Immediately after she expired, her cell was filled and aglow with a supernatural light, and her body sent forth an odor so sweet and so fragrant, as if it were a mixture of roses, white lilies and other odoriferous flowers. The odor filled the entire convent with a celestial perfume, which doubly compensated for the unbearable odor that had previously come from the wound which disfigured her forehead. The little worms which had, indeed, helped to make the countenance of St. Rita abominable were changed into agreeable and pretty lights which twinkled like little stars, and the wound caused by the thorn shone with the brilliancy of a ruby. Her body had not the sign of a corpse; that body, which before death was almost a skeleton on account of her continual penances and the four years of illness she suffered, became pliant and soft and fresh, so that she did not appear to be the prey of death, but only sleeping peacefully. She appeared years younger than she was, and her face was more beautiful in death than, in life.
As if to celebrate the entrance of St. Rita into the kingdom and home of her Divine Spouse, Angels moved the inanimate tongues of the bells in the belfries of the holy places in Cascia. At the very moment of her death, the large bell of the Maddalena Convent began to ring out its joyous peals, and when it had ceased, the bell of the church of St. Mary, as well as that of St. Lucy's Convent, were also rung by Angels, according to the testimony of Father Donato Donati of Lucca. The pealing of the bells brought a large concourse of people to the church of the Maddalena, and when it was told them by the chaplain of the convent that the bells announced both the entrance of St. Rita into Heaven and her departure from this world, the people were silent for a few moments, then their eyes welled with tears and they wept bitterly. They knew and felt that they had lost a mother and a protector in their labors and afflictions. But bethinking themselves, they were consoled with the thought that St. Rita would still continue to be their patroness' and protectress if, by their holy and Christian lives, they would merit to retain her patronage. After the nuns had prepared the body of St. Rita for burial, her funeral shroud being the same habit and headdress she had worn from her entrance into the convent, the body was borne to the church and placed on a catafalque before the main altar. The church was thronged with people, for besides the faithful of Cascia very many came from the neighboring towns and villages. Each one in the church seemed to wish to be first to venerate the body of the Saint, and all were astonished and admired the celestial odor her body emitted and the Heavenly lights her countenance radiated, those of the wound on her forehead being the most noticeable, as they shone and glistened with all the brilliancy of the most precious stones.
Of the very many who were in the church, a goodly number had the happiness to kiss or touch the body of the Saint, and not a few were recipients of singular favors by reason of this contact. We will mention one remarkable case. A relative of St. Rita had suffered severe pains in one of her arms for many years. Medical science had failed to give her any relief, and the arm had become paralyzed and utterly useless. With an ardent faith and confidence in the intercessory power of St. Rita, the afflicted woman approached and touched the dead body of the Saint with the paralyzed arm, and the arm was instantly cured of its paralysis, to the great surprise of the very many persons who were witnesses of the miracle. Naturally the people broke forth into accents of joy and gladness, and with loud voices praised God and thanked Him for having given them so signal a proof of the sanctity of His holy servant, and their hearts were filled with veneration for the body of St. Rita, which had now become a most precious relic.
In every age, there have been holy and Saintly persons who have verified the saying of the Holy Ghost: "God is wonderful in His Saints." The pages of Church history are replete with names of Saints whom God has honored by making them the instruments of His power, and by communicating to them the gift of working miracles in His name and for His honor and glory.
Among the many and the great Saints to whom God has given the power of miracles, there is none more favored with this Heavenly gift than the humble Augustinian nun, Sister St. Rita of Cascia. In fact, so marvelous have been the miracles wrought through her powerful intercession that she has merited the singular and glorious title: "Saint of the Impossible."
Were we to relate the long list of miracles wrought through the intercession of St. Rita, we would be obliged to make the story of her life too long. We will only mention a few of the many miracles brought to notice during the Process of her Beatification.
That God gave St. Rita power and dominion over the common enemy of mankind is evident from the number of persons she liberated from the tyranny and slavery of the Evil One, who afflicted their bodies in various and violent ways.
We will relate two striking facts in proof of St. Rita's power over the Evil One. Perna, the daughter of Giovanni and Elena Tuzi, both natives of Norcia, had been for many years tormented by an evil spirit that had taken possession of her body. On the 10th of June, in the year 1491, Perna came to Cascia, and while kneeling in prayer before the body of St. Rita, the evil spirit was forced to leave and go out of her body.
Another woman, whose name was Casandra, a resident of Aquilla, became possessed of a devil, God permitting it in punishment for breaking her promise to go and venerate the body of St. Rita, through whose intercession her sick boy had been cured when he was at the point of death. For the space of three years the devil tormented her in a most cruel manner. One day the evil spirit told her that he would never abandon nor cease to torment her, unless she went to visit the tomb of St. Rita in Cascia. By force, two of her grownup sons brought her before the body of St. Rita, and Casandra was liberated at once from the power of the devil, who, on leaving the woman's body, proclaimed the details of the miracle. This miracle took place in the year 1541.
St. Rita's power in curing the blind was no less marvelous. A woman whose name was Lucia di Santi, a native of the village of Santa Maria, had been deprived of her sight for the period of fifteen years. On the 18th of June, in the year 1457, her blindness was cured after she had prayed for fifteen consecutive days before the body of St. Rita.
St. Rita is also powerful against the ravages of earthquakes. In the year 1730, the city of Cascia was in a state of great anxiety and dismay. Hundreds of people from the outlying towns and villages came hurrying into the city to take refuge in the church of St. Rita, frightened by an earthquake, which in a few moments of time had destroyed many houses. At the very first trembling of the earth in Cascia, the body of St. Rita elevated itself in the coffin, and to the great joy of the frightened people who had sought the aid and protection of the Saint, the earthquake ceased without doing any damage.
These and many more miracles which we could mention prove that God has endowed the humble Augustinian nun, Sister St. Rita of Cascia, with a wonderful power of obtaining for her clients every and any good thing they desire including that of childbirth in couples thought barren, and of protecting them from every danger of body and soul.
The Privileges Which the Body and Relics of St. Rita Enjoy:
The first and principal privilege that God has deigned to grant to the body of St. Rita is that it has never suffered the law of dissolution. It is really wonderful to relate that though hundreds of years have elapsed since St. Rita died, her body is so well-preserved that there is not visible the least trace of corruption. In fact, St. Rita does not appear to be dead; [1] she has, rather, the appearance of a person who is sleeping soundly. Her flesh is milk-white; her mouth is slightly parted, so that one may see her white teeth. Her eyes are half-opened, though they had remained closed from the time of her death until the day of her solemn Beatification.
The second prodigy is that the habit and veil which St. Rita wore from the time she entered the convent until she died and which served for her funeral shroud are still intact and in good condition. Not less marvelous is the miraculous virtue of her clothing and veil. From time to time the nuns are accustomed to place pieces of linen or woolen cloth on the body of St. Rita. They then cut the cloth into very small pieces, and distribute them among the faithful. Many singular results have been effected by means of these little pieces of cloth that have touched the clothing of St. Rita. In proof of what we say we will mention a few miraculous results.
On the 10th of May, in the year of Our Lord 1525, a little boy, son of Giovanni Francisco di Nardo, a native of San Bruto, was suddenly seized with an attack of apoplexy. For three days the child was unable to take food, or open his eyes, or speak. Full of faith and confidence in the intercession of St. Rita, the poor father set out for Cascia, and having visited the tomb of the Saint, he obtained a small piece of her tunic. On returning home, he applied the piece of cloth he had received from the nuns to his son's eyes. The little boy opened his eyes at once, he began to talk and was entirely cured of the apoplexy.
On the 27th of April, in the year 1652, a house belonging to Signora Clara Calderini, wife of Giovanni Polidoro, a resident of Narni, took fire accidentally. Owing to the scarcity of water, all hope of saving the building was abandoned. The fire, however, was extinguished almost immediately by throwing into the flames a small piece of woolen cloth which had touched the veil of St. Rita. This fact is attested by the officials of the city of Narni, May 21st of the same year.
The third prodigy is the sweet odor and fragrance that emanate constantly from the body of St. Rita. This sweet odor is at times more noticeable than at others. Sometimes it perfumes the atmosphere beyond the limits of the Church, especially when any signal favor is obtained from God through the intercession of St. Rita. On these occasions the nuns ring the large convent bell in thanksgiving to God for showing Himself so wonderful in His humble servant St. Rita. On one particular occasion, the sweet odor and heavenly fragrance coming from the body was so very noticeable that the nuns were most anxious to know the cause. A few days later they learned the reason. A lady, the wife of an eminent physician of Sinigaglia, came to the convent and informed the nuns that her son, whose life had been despaired of by her husband and other physicians, had been cured through the intercession of St. Rita. In thanksgiving for this great favor, the overjoyed mother had brought a large silver votive offering, to be placed on the tomb of the Saint.
The fourth prodigy is that the body of St. Rita appears to be living, from the frequency of elevating itself, so that it touches the network of wires that covers the coffin. [2] This prodigy is especially noticeable on the feast day of the Saint, May 22nd, and when the bishop of Spoleto, or the provincial of Umbria, makes his visits to Cascia to venerate the Saint's body. It would seem that St. Rita, the model of obedience to her superiors while living, wishes even after death to practice the virtue of obedience.
The fifth prodigy is recognized in the virtue of the little breads, with the figure of St. Rita stamped upon them, that the nuns distribute on her feast day or during the year to the pilgrims who come to visit the tomb of the Saint to venerate her body. These little breads are carefully made by the nuns and when made are covered with cloths that have touched the body of St. Rita. By the eating of one of these little breads, many persons, grievously ill with fever and other maladies, have been cured. And many rain and hail storms, and even storms at sea, have suddenly ceased by exposing to the air one of these little breads, accompanied by the recitation of an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary."
The sixth prodigy is manifested in the wonderful healing power of the oil of the lamp that is kept constantly lighted before the tomb of St. Rita. Many remarkable cures have been effected in favor of those who, having faith and confidence in the intercession of St. Rita, anointed the afflicted parts of their bodies with a few drops of this oil.
In the year 1620, a very good and devout woman named Coluccia, the wife of Giovanni Andreas, a native of Norcia, came to Cascia accompanied by her young son, who was deprived of the use of his hands and feet by reason of paralysis. When Coluccia had come with her crippled son before the tomb of St. Rita, she obtained a small portion of the oil, and after she anointed his helpless hands and feet, she had the extreme joy and happiness of seeing her son cured instantly. Ever afterwards the young boy was accustomed to say: "I am a child of St. Rita of Cascia."
A like favor was obtained by Alessandro Alessandrini, a native of Amatrice, of the province of Abruzzi, not far from the confines of Cascia. He was at the very door of death, by reason of a deep wound he had received in the thigh. The wound was healed by one application of the oil, without leaving the least sign of a scar.
No less fortunate was the lot of Granicia, the daughter of Antonio Vanatteli, a native of Atri, a village of Cascia. This young girl suffered acute pains, caused by a tumor in her right side. She had recourse to the aid of St. Rita, and by applying the oil to her side, the pains ceased and the tumor disappeared.
In the year 1616, Pompeo Benenato, a native of Cascia and governor that year of Ferrara, bled from the nose so copiously that he became very weak from the loss of blood. Do what they would, the efforts of physicians could not stay the flow of blood. Being a man of faith, the governor made a novena to St. Rita. On the last day of the novena, the blood flowed more copiously than ever, but on anointing the extremity of the nose and nostrils with the oil and by making the Sign of the Cross, invoking at the same time the aid of St. Rita, the flow of blood stopped suddenly; In thanksgiving for this great favor, the governor presented a beautiful and costly lamp to the shrine of St. Rita.
1. St. Rita's body is said to be still essentially incorrupt; the preservation, although not so remarkable as described here, has continued to this day.
2. Documentation regarding the elevations of St. Rita's body, which occurred in former times, is preserved in the archives of the Archdiocese of Spoleto. [The Incorruptibles, pp. 131-132.]
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The Mysterious Bees Again:
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But among the many prodigies by which God has made manifest the sanctity of His holy servant St. Rita, there is none more worthy of our admiration than the little swarm of bees, commonly called "St. Rita's Bees."
We have already seen that a swarm of white bees appeared and hovered around the cradle of the Saint, but the bees of which we now speak are those which first appeared when the Saint entered the convent, where they now live in a retired place in the convent wall. They leave the convent every Holy Week and remain abroad until the feast of St. Rita. Oftentimes during the year, they fly through the convent and in the garden, but it is very noticeable that they first fly to the room of the prioress, as if to ask permission to take their recreation. Another noticeable fact about them is this: they are the constant companions of the nuns while they are kneading the dough to make the little breads of St. Rita, and it would seem as if the little winged creatures were urging on the work of the nuns by the continual humming and buzzing.
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Canonization:
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The universal and uninterrupted devotion of the faithful to St. Rita and the very many wonderful prodigies that God wrought through her intercession enkindled in the loving hearts of thousands and thousands of the clients of the humble Augustinian nun the ardent desire of seeing her elevated to that highest honor with which Holy Mother Church recompenses the heroic virtues of her pious and devout children. This ardent desire began to manifest itself shortly after her Beatification. However, generation after generation of the devout clients of St. Rita went to their reward without seeing the realization of their wishes. But at length the happy time came, after a lapse of two centuries of years and more. The year 1900 will long be remembered by the friars and nuns of the Order of St. Augustine, as well as by the loving and devout clients of St. Rita. In this year, on the 24th of May, Pope Leo XIII, of happy memory, decreed that Blessed Rita, O.S.A. of Cascia should be honored as a Saint, in public and in private; that her name be inscribed in the catalogue of the Saints, and that her memory should be held in perpetual veneration on the 22nd day of May each year by the Universal Church.
We will mention some of the details that anteceded the Canonization of St. Rita. In the year 1737, a few years more than a century after her Beatification, the Apostolic Process of the virtues and particularly of the miracles of St. Rita was begun. This Process was conducted by the diocesan tribunals of Spoleto and Nursia. For different reasons, some particular, some general, the Process was delayed for more than a century. On the 9th of September, in the year 1851, letters were sent from Rome to the bishop of Nursia to reopen and complete the Process. The procedure lasted four years. In 1855 the Process was sent to Rome, approved the following year by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and confirmed by a decree of Pope Pius IX, the 29th of May, in the year 1856. On June 8th, in the year of Our Lord 1896, the Sacred Congregation approved the Process made in the year 1626 of the sanctity, virtues and worship to the Saint, thereby giving it the value of an Apostolic Process. On April 6th, in the year 1897, the same Congregation approved the Process of the virtues of St. Rita and declared that steps could be taken at once to examine the miracles attributed to the Saint. After a long and careful examination, as the Church is accustomed to do in such cases, Pope Leo XIII, by a decree dated Palm Sunday, April 8th, in the year 1900, approved, among the many, the miracles attributed to St. Rita and declared that they could, with all security, proceed to the solemn Canonization of the Saint. The following were the three miracles that were approved, as we may learn from the Decree of St. Rita's Canonization.
"The first miracle consists of that pleasing scent emanating from the remains of the Saint's body, the existence of which is confirmed by many reliable witnesses and trustworthy tradition, so that to doubt concerning this fact would be absurd; moreover no natural cause can be given for the existence of this odor, as we see from the physical research which has been made by men most skilled in such things. Furthermore this odor diffuses itself in a manner above the usual laws of nature. Hence we should be persuaded that this fragrance has its origin through Divine intervention.
"The other miracle happened to Elizabeth Bergamini, a young girl in danger of losing her sight from smallpox. Her parents, assured by the physicians that the child's condition was so serious that medical aid could be of no avail, decided to send her to the Augustinian Convent at Cascia, beseeching St. Rita fervently to deliver their daughter from approaching blindness. Arriving at the convent, the child was clothed with a votive dress in honor of St. Rita. After four months Elizabeth cried out one day that she could see. Together with the nuns she immediately began to give thanks to God, who had wrought such a miracle through St. Rita.
"The third miracle happened to Cosimo Pelligrini, suffering from chronic catarrhal gastroenteritis and hemorrhoidal affection so serious that there was no hope of recovery. Returning one day from church he became so weak from a new attack of his excruciating malady that he was near death. Doctors, being summoned, ordered him to receive the last Sacraments, receiving which he lay in the bed with every appearance of approaching death, when suddenly he seemed to see St. Rita in the attitude of greeting him. Thereupon his former strength and appetite returned to him, and within a very short time he was able to do the work of a young man, although he was advanced in years, being a septuagenarian."
In consideration of the approval of the virtues and miracles of the humble Augustinian nun, Pope Leo XIII issued the Decree of Canonization, and appointed Ascension Day, May 24th, 1900, for the happy event. On this memorable day, two blessed servants of God were canonized: Blessed John Baptist de La Salle, Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and our own Blessed Rita of Cascia, known throughout the entire Catholic world as the Saint of the Impossible.
On that occasion there was present a large multitude of people. Pilgrims had come from Ireland, England, France, Germany, Spain, America and from every province in Italy to witness the rarest and most solemn of ceremonies of Holy Church. In preparation for the canonization, more than 1500 persons were employed under the direction of Constantine Sneider, who had charge of the decorations of the Vatican. It was on this occasion that electric light was used for the first time in St. Peter's Church. Nearly 11,000,000 feet of wire supplied the current for 12,000 lamps and 400 chandeliers.
At an early hour of the morning of May 24th, 1900, there was assembled in the plaza of St. Peter an immense multitude of people of every nationality and language, indicating that the entire world was represented. The front of St. Peter's Church stood forth in all its majestic beauty, enhanced by the splendor of its gorgeous and magnificent decorations.
In the meantime, there were assembled in the Vatican Palace awaiting the beginning of the ceremonies: the Sacred College of Cardinals; Patriarchs; Archbishops and Bishops; Regular Clergy: the Chapter Fathers of Basilicas and Colleges; the Parish priests of Rome; and by special privilege, the students of the Roman and French seminaries.
At precisely eight o'clock, His Holiness, accompanied by his Court of Nobles, proceeded to the Sistine Chapel, where the College of Cardinals, the Archbishops and Bishops and all those who were to take part in the pontifical function were awaiting his arrival. After the hymn Ave Maris Stella was chanted, the Holy Father knelt for a few moments in prayer, and then ascended the Chair of State-----Sedia Gestatoria-----to accompany the procession to the Basilica of St. Peter. The procession was composed of three divisions. The first division had in its ranks the Regular Clergy. Among others were Calced and Discalced Augustinians; Brothers of the Christian Schools; Capuchins; Carmelites; Dominicans, Benedictines and Canons of St. John Lateran. The second division was made up of Secular Clergy: the parish priests of Rome; Canons of the Basilicas and Collegiate Churches of Rome; Officials, Priests and Prelates and Consultors of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. The third division was composed of the Pontifical Court; the Chaplains and Chamberlains; Procurator Generals of Religious Orders; Auditors and Relators of the Roman Rota; Archbishops, Bishops and Cardinals. The Holy Father, borne on the Chair of State, followed, surrounded by the Commanders and Chiefs of the Noble Guards; the Swiss Guards; the Palatines and the Prior Generals of Religious Orders. It was half past ten o'clock when the Holy Father arrived in St. Peter's Church and the ceremonies of Canonization began. The Decree of Canonization setting forth the apostolic sentence was read. High Mass was sung by Cardinal Oreglia, Dean of the Sacred College. The music was under the direction of Maestro Mustafa, Director of the Sistine Choir. When the Mass was concluded, the Holy Father gave the Papal Benediction, and then retired to his room in the Vatican Palace amid loud huzzahs of love and affection, as the people repeated again and again: "Long live Leo XIII." Rome was then, as it is today, under the rule and in the hands of a descendant of a robber king, but the ceremonies which had just terminated proved that Rome was still, as it is today, the City of Popes, and the Metropolitan of triumphant Catholicity.