O Holy Patroness of those in need, Saint Rita, whose pleadings before thy Divine Lord are almost irresistible, who for thy lavishness in granting favors hast been called the Advocate of the hopeless and even the Impossible. In some images, Saint Rita is shown to have a wound on her forehead, holding a rose, or to be surrounded by bees. Her incorrupt body remains in the Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia. At her canonization ceremony, she was bestowed the title of Patroness of Impossible Causes, while in many Catholic countries, Rita came to be known as the patroness of abused wives and heartbroken women. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate a partial stigmata. Rita,” Diana Viz said.Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti, (1381 – ) was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.Īfter Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. “It’s just really great to have so much time to pray, go to confession, go to Mass and kind of just bond with everyone here at St. It only made it that much more important for us to show up.” “Just a lot of craziness seemed to happen in the world after he announced it. “It just really shows the Holy Spirit and God’s will because of all of these things unfolding with Ukraine,” she said. She remembers McCarthy announcing the event several months ago at the end of a novena. They regularly attend the monthly novena to St. Any excuse we can come and celebrate our faith and pray for our loved ones we do,” Garvey said.Ĭatherine Viz and her sister Diana came for the noon Mass and stayed until the Divine Mercy Chaplet was prayed at 3 p.m. Rita High School and are regular visitors to the chapel. “It feels good to be back after two years of the pandemic.” Rita, but also to remind ourselves to pray for others and pray for ourselves in this Lenten season,” Garvey said. Sheila Garvey came to the festival in the afternoon with her sons Jack and Joe. “We want to bring Jesus to people and people to Jesus,” he said. The shrine, like all shrines, is meant to be a place of pilgrimage where people can come and be at peace and celebrate the sacraments. “So I hope peace, and I hope people know that they are not alone and that in the midst of this world, what’s going on coming out of COVID and still wondering what’s happening, and what’s going on in Ukraine, that there’s a place to be at peace.” “What brings us peace? Jesus and his mother, Mary. Peace was the end goal of the event, McCarthy said. “So when I came back to the shrine, I said, ‘We need to do that here,’” McCarthy said. When he was transferred to Villanova University in Pennsylvania, McCarthy started a Festival of Forgiveness on campus, with 24 hours of adoration and confession in the campus church. There is also music, and priests are available for confession or just to talk. The inspiration for a festival of peace came out of McCarthy’s experience of Nightfever locally, an evening in which young adults invite people in off the streets to light a candle and pray in front of the Eucharist. The evening was directed at youth and young adults, and it offered an opportunity to pray, eat and play, McCarthy said. Visitors could also play pool, pingpong or foosball in the McCarthy Center in the evening. Rita High School’s Fathers’ Club opened a bistro in the school’s dining hall offering free food and beverages. They could also light candles and place them before the altar.Īt 5 p.m., St. People were encouraged to write prayer intentions on slips of paper and place them in a basket before the altar. Musicians led praise and worship music from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Visitors prayed the rosary at 1, 5 and 7 p.m., and the Divine Mercy Chaplet was prayed at 3 p.m. Priests offered confession from noon until midnight. The festival opened with Mass at noon followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 11:45 p.m. “We just wanted to do something, especially after COVID, to get people back.” “We decided to do this about five months ago, so there was no war,” said Augustinian Friar Tom McCarthy, shrine director. They also didn’t know Pope Francis would call on Catholics around the world to consecrate humanity, and especially Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that day. Western Ave., began planning its Festival of Peace last fall, they never dreamt the world would be in such turmoil when they held their event March 25.
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