Novena
Novena to Saint Rita of Cascia
Nine-day novena to Saint Rita Of Cascia · begins 13 May, ending on the eve of her memorial, 22 May
Nine days of prayer to the Augustinian nun of Cascia, wife, mother, widow and religious, whom devotion calls the advocate of the hopeless and of the impossible. The received prayer appeals to her humility, purity and patient love of the crucified Jesus, and promises, if the petition is granted, to make her favour known.
Background
Rita of Cascia (c. 1381-1457) endured a difficult marriage, the violent death of her husband and the death of her two sons before entering the Augustinian monastery at Cascia, where she received a wound in the forehead from the crown of thorns. She was canonised by Leo XIII in 1900 and is kept on 22 May. This is a private devotion. The received form repeats one prayer on each of the nine days; the day-by-day subjects below are editorial and the prayer is unaltered. The old printed note that a granted petition must be published in a newspaper is a nineteenth-century custom of publicising favours, not a condition the Church imposes.
Days
Intention
hope in a situation that looks closed, and patience in a suffering that cannot be changed
Usually begun
13 May, ending on the eve of her memorial, 22 May
Structure
nine_days
Duration
9 days
Content subtype
full_novena