Our Patroness

In the hamlet of Roccaporena, Italy, Rita was born to Antonio and Amati Lotti in 1391. Rita had shown interest in joining the convent of St. Mary Magdalene, the home of the Augustinian nuns who lived in the nearby city of Cascia, but her parents thought it more caring and loving to place her in a position of protection and a solidly endowed future. Rita obediently acquiesced to their wisdom and became Mrs. Paolo Mancini.

Unfortunately for their devoted wife and mother, Rita’s husband and their sons became committed to the brutal family politics and battles of the day. Eventually Paolo fell victim to an ambush on his way to work and was murdered. The two boys, whom Rita tried to steer clear of a potentially ravaging vendetta to avenge their father’s death, reportedly succumbed instead to a fatal disease. Rita, though distraught and distressed, was consoled in the knowledge that her family had come to know God through her ceaseless prayer and spiritual guidance.

Rita’s thoughts and desires returned to membership in the community of Augustinian nuns. However, she was refused admittance three times, most likely because one or more of the sisters were related to one or another of the opposing families which might cause a threat to the existing spirit of community and be a catalyst for disunity and division.

The answer was obvious to Rita: pray for, and with personal risk to her own life, broker a peace between the most powerful warring families. By the grace of God, Rita accomplished this impossibility. The superior of the Augustinians was now free to receive Rita to become one of their sisters. She spent the next forty years of her life as part of their monastic community until her death in 1457.