“Margherita Lotti (Saint Rita) lived from 1380 to 1457 in the town of Cascia, Italy. She had to endure much in her life. She had to forgive others, God and her life a lot. She mastered all the difficult situations with equanimity, perseverance and optimism. Her parents, were known to be noble, charitable persons.
According to pious accounts, Rita was originally pursued by a notary named Gubbio but she resisted his offer. She was married at age twelve to a nobleman named Paolo Mancini. Her parents arranged her marriage, a common practice at the time, despite her repeated requests to be allowed to enter a convent of religious sisters. Her husband, Paolo Mancini, was known to be a rich, quick-tempered, immoral man, who had many enemies in the region of Cascia. Rita had her first child at the age of twelve.
Rita endured his insults, physical abuse, and infidelities for many years. According to popular tales, through humility, kindness, and patience, Rita was able to convert her husband into a better person, more specifically renouncing a family feud known at the time as La Vendetta. Rita eventually bore two sons, and brought them up in the Christian faith. As time went by and the family feud became more intense, Paolo Mancini became congenial, but his allies betrayed him and he was violently stabbed to death by a member of the feuding family.
Rita gave a public pardon at Paolo's funeral to her husband's murderers. Paolo Mancini's brother, Bernardo, was said to have continued the blood family feud and hoped to convince Rita's sons to seek revenge. Rita, fearing that her sons would lose their souls, tried to persuade them from retaliating, but to no avail. Accordingly, she petitioned God to take her sons rather than submit them to possible mortal sin and murder. Her sons died of dysentery a year later, which pious Catholics believe was God's answer to take her prayer, taking them by natural death rather than risk them committing a mortal sin punishable by Hell.
After the deaths of her husband and sons, Rita desired to enter the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Cascia but was turned away. Although the convent acknowledged Rita's good character and piety, the nuns were afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her husband's violent death. However, she persisted in her cause and was given a condition before the convent could accept her: the task of reconciling her family with her husband's murderers. She implored her three patron saints to assist her, and she set about the task of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia. Popular religious tales recall that she was able to resolve the conflicts between the families and, at the age of thirty-six, was allowed to enter the monastery.
Rita chose the spiritual path and every day did her exercises. At the age of sixty years she got enlightenment (holiness). Her rigorous spiritual practice had brought her a great win. Now she was freed from all the suffering of life. An important element for her breakthrough to enlightenment was to forgive. Her forgiveness led her to the complete acceptance of life. Saint Rita was able to accept everything the way it was. Even the suffering in her life and in the world. Pious Catholic legends later recount that she was transported into the monastery of Saint Magdalene via levitation at night into the garden courtyard by her three patron saints." ~ Wikipedia
May we all have an enlightened life. May we all be able to forgive, to heal and to become happy and holy in life.
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