Saint Rita of Cascia: Prayer for Impossible Cases

You have probably come here because something in your life has stopped making sense. A marriage that has gone cold or turned cruel. A diagnosis. A child you cannot reach. A situation you have carried to God so many times that you have run out of words for it.

People in that place have been going to Saint Rita for six hundred years. She is not a magic formula and she would be the first to say so. She is a woman who buried a husband, buried both her sons, and spent the rest of her life in a convent in the hills of Umbria asking God for things that looked impossible. She knows the shape of that prayer.

The life of Saint Rita in dates

Margherita Lotti was born around 1381 in Roccaporena, a small hamlet near Cascia in Umbria, Italy. Her family were ordinary people, and the stories tell us she wanted religious life from childhood. That is not what happened. She married Paolo Mancini and had twin sons, and the marriage was not an easy one.

Then her husband was killed. Both of her sons died young as well. We do not know the details, and it does no good to invent them. What we know is that she lost her whole household, one person at a time. She asked to enter the Augustinian convent of Santa Maria Maddalena in Cascia, and after some hesitation she was admitted.

Around 1432, while she was praying before a crucifix, a wound from a thorn of the crown appeared on her forehead. She carried it for the rest of her life. She died on 22 May 1457 in Cascia. Pope Leo XIII canonized her on 24 May 1900, and her feast day is 22 May. Her body is kept in the basilica of Santa Rita in Cascia and is reported incorrupt.

Why she is called the saint of impossible cases

The tradition is simple and it grew from lived experience rather than from a decree. Catholics call on her as the patroness of impossible causes, of difficult marriages, of widows and of abused wives. People brought her the things nobody else could fix, and the devotion spread.

What do people bring her? A husband who drinks. A wife who has left. A son in prison. Money that will not stretch to the end of the month. A court case. A sickness the doctors have stopped discussing. You will hear her named in hospital corridors and in the back of churches at odd hours, often by people who are not sure anyone is listening.

Here is the honest part. A saint does not fix things. Saint Rita does not reach into your life and rearrange events. What the Church asks of her is intercession, which means she prays for you, and God does the rest in whatever way God chooses. Sometimes that is a healing. Sometimes it is the strength to get through a thing you never thought you could survive. Both are answers. Neither is a guarantee you can schedule.

The prayer to Saint Rita

There is a traditional prayer to Saint Rita for impossible causes, and the page has it in a separate block so you can read it slowly and keep it. It is short. It asks her to intercede for a situation that has no human solution, and it asks for peace in the meantime.

Do not rush it. Read it once with your eyes. Then read it again and let your own situation sit inside the words. You do not have to be eloquent, and you do not have to be sure of anything. If you have never prayed before, start here. If you are looking for other prayers alongside it, there are Catholic prayers for healing that people use in the same weeks.

You can pray it daily for as long as you need to. Some people keep a small card in a wallet. Others write the prayer out and leave it where they will see it in the morning.

The novena to Saint Rita

A novena is nine days of prayer, and if you want the background, this explains what a novena is. The most common time for Saint Rita's novena is the nine days before her feast, from 13 to 21 May, ending the day before 22 May. That is the pattern parishes follow and it is the one people ask about most.

You do not have to wait for May. Any nine days will do. Pick a date and stay with it. Nine days is long enough that you will get tired of it, and that is part of the point. It is not a bargain you strike with heaven. It is a way of putting a thing down and picking it up again each morning.

What do you say? The page has the novena days in a separate block with each day's prayer and reflection. Read one each day, add your own situation in your own words, and finish with the prayer to Saint Rita above. Keep it simple. God is not grading your phrasing.

The rose in winter

The best known story about her comes near the end of her life. She was ill and could not leave her cell, and she asked for a rose from the garden of her family home. It was the middle of winter. A single rose and two figs were found.

People have argued about that story for centuries. Some take it as a sign of God's care for a woman who had lost nearly everything. Others simply love it. Either way it has stuck, and it is why you see roses on her images and why pilgrims still carry roses to Cascia.

If you ever go to the basilica of Santa Rita in Cascia, you will see them. Fresh ones, dried ones, roses left by people who came a long way with something heavy. Nobody asks them to explain. A rose is not a proof. It is a small thing given in hope, which is close to what prayer is.

The wound on her forehead

Around 1432 she was praying before a crucifix, and a wound from a thorn of the crown appeared on her forehead. She bore it until she died. The stories say she was embarrassed by it and did not want to be looked at. She spent long stretches alone and asked to be left in quiet.

It is not hard to see why the wound mattered to her. She had spent years watching people she loved suffer and die. To carry a small piece of the crown on her own body, in her own flesh, must have felt like being told she was not watching from a distance after all.

What does the Church say about such things? The Church is careful. She does not require anyone to believe private revelations, and she tests them slowly. A sign like that is treated as a gift given to one person, not as a rule for everybody. You are not less of a Catholic for never having one, and you are not required to explain hers.

Saint Rita, Saint Jude and hard marriages

Saint Rita is the one people turn to for a marriage in trouble, and for good reason. She lived through a hard marriage herself. She is named as a patroness of difficult marriages and of abused wives. If that is your situation and you are in danger, get to safety first and talk to someone you trust. Prayer and a safety plan are not opposites.

Saint Jude is the other name people reach for, the apostle called on for hopeless causes, and he is often prayed to alongside her. There is no competition between them. You can ask them both. If you want a form of prayer written for this particular pain, there is a prayer for a relationship that is breaking that many people use.

And if the situation truly is not fixable? Some marriages do not heal. Some people are not coming back. Some illnesses do not get better. You are still allowed to pray. What you ask for may change over the nine days. It often does. You may start by asking for the thing to be fixed and end by asking for the strength to live with it. Both are honest prayers. You can also look at saints for healing and hard situations if you want other companions for the road. Saint Rita will not mind sharing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the prayer to Saint Rita for impossible causes?

It is a traditional prayer asking her to intercede for a situation that has no human answer. It names the trouble, asks for her prayers before God, and asks for peace while you wait. You will find it on this page in its own block. Pray it slowly and add your own words.

How do you pray the novena to Saint Rita?

Pray for nine days in a row, most commonly from 13 to 21 May, ending the day before her feast. Any nine days work. Say the day's prayer, add your own request in plain words, and close with the prayer to Saint Rita. Keep going even when nothing seems to happen.

Why is Saint Rita shown with a rose and a thorn wound?

The rose comes from the story of her asking for one from her family garden in the middle of winter, and a single rose and two figs were found. The wound comes from the thorn of the crucifix around 1432. The two signs sit side by side: one of suffering, one of quiet care.

Is Saint Rita the patroness of abused wives?

Yes, she is called on as a patroness of abused wives, along with difficult marriages and widows. She lived through a hard marriage herself. If you are in danger, please tell someone you trust and get help. Prayer is not a substitute for safety, and she would not want it used that way.

Can I ask Saint Rita for a divorce or a separation?

You can bring anything to her, including a marriage that has broken down. What you ask for may be peace, safety, clarity or a decision you cannot make alone. The Church's teaching on marriage is serious, and a priest can help you think it through. Ask honestly.