Shrines of Italy: Sanctuary of Saint Rita

The Sanctuary of Santa Rita is situated atop the highest point in the village of Cascia. It’s one of the smallest villages I’ve been to, and is deceptively difficult to reach. You won’t find any train stations here, as the jagged mountain ranges of Italy’s Umbria region have prevented their construction. Instead, you’ll find yourself riding a tour bus, or simply driving for about 2 hours through the often treacherous mountain pass in order to reach the basilica at the very top of the village.

The views from this vantage point are impressive to say the least, as they highlight some of Italy’s most beautiful countryside. While the basilica does receive thousands of pilgrims a day, the village of Cascia has managed to retain a sense of seclusion and serenity, similar in some respects to the village of Assisi.

The first thing that will strike you upon arriving at the basilica is how just modern the architecture is as compared to most other shrines in the country. This is largely due to the how recent the construction is, with the basilica having been completed in 1947 atop the original Augustinian church which at one time, connected to the monastery where St. Rita died 1457.

Much of the vibrant artwork that adorns the interior of the church was painted in the 1950’s, and most of it contains depictions of significant events from St. Rita’s life.

You might recall that St. Rita was in fact a wife and mother before she became a nun. She was married at a young age to a rich but immoral nobleman, and together they had two sons. Despite receiving a great deal of abuse from her husband, she was eventually able to convert him shortly before he was murdered by a rival family. Her two sons later died of dysentery, at which point she resolved to enter the convent. Though she was reluctantly received at first, she would eventually develop a reputation of great piety, even displaying what is referred to as a partial stigmata when a wound from the crown of thorns appeared in her forehead later in life.

In death, her body was exhumed three times over a period of several years, and was each time found to be in a state of remarkable preservation. Subsequently, she was declared incorrupt, and her body remains on display in the basilica to this day. While the centuries have nonetheless taken their toll on St. Rita’s remains, the story of her life is every bit as inspiring to the pilgrims of today, as it was to those present at her first exhumation.

One of these pilgrims in particular was Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce, a devotee of St. Rita, and a member of the same contemplative order. She is best known for her charitable works in the village, and her body is also on display in the lower church underneath the main basilica. She died shortly before the basilica’s completion in 1947, and was beatified in 1997.

Adjacent to the body of Blessed Maria are the remnants of a Eucharistic miracle, which is reported to have happened in Siena 1330. The story goes that a priest was delivering the Eucharist to a dying farmer, but instead of carrying it a pyx, he placed between the pages of his breviary. By the time he arrived, the host had begun bleeding, and the pages of his breviary were stained with blood. There is a page from this breviary reserved in the sanctuary today.

As obscure as it is, it seems that the village of Cascia is home to many unique treasures of the faith. And they will certainly leave a lasting impression on this traveler for years to come.