Homily for Memorial of St. Rita

Homily for the Memorial of
St. Rita of Cascia

May 22, 2023
Collect
Provincial House, New Rochelle

In the collect of St. Rita, we prayed that we might more deeply participate in the paschal mystery by suffering with Christ in every tribulation.  That of course doesn’t mean that we desire tribulations; but desire them or not, we’ll have them.  We desire to be united with Christ in them.

Tribulations filled the life of Rita of Cascia (1381-1457), starting from her being compelled to marry in spite of her desire to become a nun.  Her 18-year marriage was miserable, her husband being violent and unfaithful, and their sons were like him.  The marriage ended with her husband’s murder in a vendetta; before her sons could avenge him, both died of natural causes.  Widowed, Rita still was denied entrance to a convent for several years, but finally was admitted and became a model of humility, obedience, and care for the sick in the convent.  Not for nothing is her patronage invoked in desperate cases.

Rita knew more tribulation than most people; certainly more than you and I, whose tribulations come up at dinner in the form of medical travails or job-related problems.  Rita’s tribulations, not to mention ours, pale when we think of the tens of thousands afflicted by war, narco-violence, sexual trafficking, or unrelenting discrimination.  Just read the multi-page spread in yesterday’s NYT about Afghan refugees.

St. Rita was closely united with the passion of Christ, even to experiencing the wounds of the crown of thorns (but not other stigmata).  We can unite our tribulations to that same passion—“suffering in every tribulation with Christ,” sharing in one phase of the paschal mystery while looking toward that mystery’s fulfillment in us.  We attend to Jesus’ words:  “Take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).  And we pray that suffering, desperate people today—migrants, victims of persecution, violence, and discrimination, people in unhappy relationships—also might take courage and find the assistance and comfort they need in Christ and Christ’s people.

Photo by Rita Mendl: from a church in Budapest