Grace and Space

St. Rita of Cascia was born on 1381 in Umbria, Italy. Though she desired to become a nun, her parents forced her to marry instead. Yet she took her duties as a wife earnestly, loving even her alcoholic husband who would beat her constantly. One day, her husband was killed in a brawl. Fearing that her two sons would resort to vengeance, she prayed fervently. Her sons, plotting to murder their father’s killers, died after a year in a plague. She took this as God’s way of answering her prayers. After some time, she entered an Augustinian monastery fulfilling her dream of becoming a religious. It was here that she received the gift of the stigmata (the wounds of Jesus) which confined her much to bed. She died on May 22, 1457.

 Novena to St. Rita of Cascia