SANT ARITA FULL

Despite bitter suffering, a model full of joy That is why, Cardinal Semeraro stressed, the Lord says in the Gospel: 'I am the vine, you are the branches, my Father is the farmer and He adds: without Me you can do nothing'. The Cardinal said, 'St Augustine, and with St Rita we are certainly in an Augustinian context, preached that 'we all together, united to our Head, are Christ,' and that 'without our Head, we are worth nothing.' 'Why?' Semeraro asked, 'Because with our Head, we are the vine without our Head, we are broken branches, destined not for some work of the farmer, but only for the fire.' He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing' (Jn 15:4-5). 'Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. The Cardinal recalled how the Gospel passage tells of Jesus reminding us that we must be united to Him like the branch to the vine. United to Christ, like the branch to the vine He died, but also dying were Rita's two sons, shortly after her spouse died, leaving her alone. John Paul II emphasized that the stigmata shining on her forehead is 'the authentication of her Christian maturity.' The Lord, he continued, 'gave Saint Rita the grace 'to bear in her heart and on her forehead, the signs of Christ's love and passion.''īefore Rita was a religious sister, she had been in a terrible marriage, where her husband was abusive. In preparing for this event, he recalled his review of the records printed for her canonization, as he praised the intense life of the saint, who was a spouse, widow, and consecrated, and her stigmata. The Cardinal expressed gratitude for the invitation to celebrate the Eucharist with the faithful of Cascia, and all the pilgrims who traveled there, on the feast of this saint, who is 'so universally known, loved, and invoked.' Rita was born in 1381, near the Umbrian town of Cascia, in the village of Roccaporena. This was an invitation offered by the Vatican's Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, during the beloved Saint's Liturgical Feast, today, 22 May, during his homily in Cascia, Italy. Seek Santa Rita, convinced that as Patron Saint of Impossible Causes, she can continue working her miracles today.

Sant arita