Rita of the Mission Impossible
There are two saints of impossible or desperate causes – Saint Jude, one of the Twelve, and today’s Saint Rita of Cascia (+1457). Although she wanted to enter religious life, Rita was married off to an irascible, abusive, philandering, feud-fighting nobleman, Paolo Mancini, at the tender age of twelve (things were different back then), bearing him two sons, and, with patience, long-suffering, and heroic virtue, she softened him over the years, so that he became almost pleasant, giving up his vendettas. When he was stabbed to death after about two decades of what we shall not presume to describe as marital bliss, there was hope for his soul.
Rita prayed that her two sons – bent on revenging their father’s murder – would die rather than commit such a grave sin, and, soon enough, they too went to their eternal reward, stricken with dysentery. Such are some prayers answered.
Now relieved of her familial obligations and duties – and that verb is significant in this case – Rita sought to follow her first calling, and applied to enter the Augustinian convent of Saint Mary Magdalene, whose Sisters would only accept her if she could somehow resolve the scandalous and murderous feud between her family and the Chiquis. So she prayed mightily – invoking three patron saints – John the Baptist, Augustine and Nicholas of Torentino – and, sure enough, peace was restored, and Rita, at the age of 36, became the consecrated religious she had always wanted to be.
For the next biblical span of forty years, she lived a holy, hidden ascetical life in the convent, joyful and peaceful, until her death on this day in 1457, in her 76th year.
When she was about sixty, Rita was gifted with a wound in her forehead, much as would be caused by a thorn in a crown made of them, a partial stigmata, which was, as accounts relate, very painful and emitted a foul odour, an external sign of her penitential life. But, as is oft the case for such saints, her prayers were efficacious, often answered miraculously, as they continue to be after her death (hence, her patronage).
Seven centuries have passed since Rita’s entrance into eternal bliss, but her body is still incorrupt, laid to rest in her glorious shrine at Cascia, about 60 miles north of Rome; in that mystery of God’s providence in glorifying His holy ones, she is still one of the most powerful intercessors in the heavenly pantheon, for all those missions impossible – pace, Mr. Cruise, who, now that I think of it, we may pray returns to his youthful Catholicism – that seem insoluble by any earthly means.
Sancta Rita, ora pro nobis…
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop
As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk
As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace
Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→
Payette’s Payout
I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→