Rita of Cascia

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Late Gothic representation of St. Rita as a wall painting

Saint Rita of Cascia (born Margherita Lotti , * 1381 in Roccaporena , † May 22, 1447 in Cascia ) was an Italian nun .

Life

As a young woman, Margherita Lotti wanted to join the Augustinian women , but was married against her will. Only after her violent husband was killed and her two sons to the plague had died, she could, following her original desire, 1407 in the monastery enter the Augustinian nuns in Cascia, where they live in strengster renunciation and repentance led. She later received the crown of thorns as a stigma .

Feast of St. Rita von Cascia in San Benedetto in Piscinula in Trastevere , 2013

Rita's undisturbed body rests in the Basilica di Santa Rita in Cascia. Her iconographic attributes are the crucifix as an attribute of the consecrated, the crown of thorns or stigmata on the forehead and the rose as an attribute of virginity. Rita von Cascia is regarded as the patron saint of butchers and is called on in hopeless issues, with exams and against smallpox . Numerous churches are subordinate to the patronage of St. Rita, including one in Miramar (Havana) . In addition, the headland of Saint Rita Point on James Ross Island in Antarctica is named after Saint Rita.

Canonization

Rita was established in 1628 by Pope Urban VIII. Beatified and in 1900 Pope Leo XIII. canonized . Her feast day is May 22nd.

Rite sisters

The Rita Sisters are a religious community whose patron saint is St. Rita from Cascia is. The community of the Rita Sisters was founded in Würzburg in 1911 by the Augustinian Father Hugolin Dach (Father Hugolinus) and five young women, initially as a nursing association for poor families. Since December 1917 the Rite Sisters (as a Third Order of St. Augustine) wore a habit and transformed into a monastic community. After Dach's death in 1918, the Bishop of Würzburg demanded the dissolution of the community and the connection to other religious orders. Only nine sisters stayed together and, with the help of the population and Catholic associations, obtained ecclesiastical permission to continue as a congregation .

The mother house of the Rita sisters is in Würzburg. In 2000 there were about 100 sisters in the congregation. The Rita Sisters are particularly dedicated to nursing the sick and helping families. For 40 years (until 2006) they ran a school for family care. There is also a new focus on spiritual accompaniment. The Rita Sisters belong to the Augustinians . In addition to Germany, they operate in Switzerland and the United States ( Wisconsin ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Rita of Cascia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Rita of Cascia . At heiligenlexikon.de, accessed on May 8, 2017
  2. Evodius Wallbrecht : Rule book for the members of the third order of St. Father Augustine. (with Hugolinus roof), Rita publishing house and printing house, Würzburg 1928.
  3. Klaus Witt City: church and state in the 20th century. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 453–478 and 1304 f., Here: pp. 455–458: The Church Development under Bishop Ferdinand Schlör (1898–1924). P. 456 f.