St. Rita of Cascia, ora pro nobis!


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Let’s move from one of the most curious to one of the most mysterious: St. Rita of Cascia, patron saint of lost causes. A wife, a mother, a widow and a nun, she lived a devout life and is one of our incorruptible saints.

An incorruptible is one who is unpreserved, be it deliberate, accidental or natural, and has not shown the decay typical of someone who has died. In most all cases not only are the incorruptibles, well, incorrupt, but they are also still quite flexible and moist.

Now St. Rita being an incorruptible is not scary; it’s amazing! Of course, being face to face with someone who has been dead for over 500 years can make even the most devout feel a bit uneasy. The spookiness with St. Rita comes from a few events that have taken place after she died. Her body rests in a glass sarcophagus located about eye level to most visitors. For hundreds of years pilgrims have come to pray at her tomb. On several occasions there are reported cases of St. Rita opening her eyes, changing position, and even elevating. All of these events were recorded by multiple eyewitnesses. Imagine praying at her tomb, looking up and seeing her open eyes looking back at you.
The Catholic Traveler 

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