10"
x 7" Oil on Tin
$350
Santa
Rita De Cascia
(Saint Rita Of Cascia)
Respecting her parents wishes that she marry instead of entering an Augustinian Convent, Santa Rita spent 18 years of her life as a married woman - for this reason she is considered a model for married women. After her husband's death, Rita was allowed to enter the convent which, after refusing her three times, relaxed its rule of allowing only virgins to enter. As she knelt in prayer after a sermon on the crown of thorns by Saint James della Marca in 1441, she became aware of a pain in her forehead - as if a thorn had been imbedded there. This wound became so offensive that she was secluded from the rest of the nuns to live out her life as a recluse. It is the wound on her forehead that most easily identifies her. Dressed as an Augustinian Nun, she appears with symbols of penance and contemplation. She is invoked as patroness of desperate cases or a helper in impossibilities. This is due to an incident that occurred at her death. She asked a visitor to bring her a rose from the garden when the season was not right for roses. The visitor, however, found a whole bush blooming.
