After Rita's husband died, she joined a small community of nuns, who later became Augustinians, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh[1] and for the efficacy of her prayers.

Margherita Lotti was born in 1381 in the city of Roccaporena, a small hamlet near Cascia, Umbria[2][3][4] where various sites connected with her are the focus of pilgrimages.

Her parents, Antonio and Amata Ferri Lotti, were known to be noble, charitable people, who gained the epithet Conciliatori di Cristo (English: Peacemakers of Christ).

[3][6] Her marriage was arranged by her parents, a common practice at the time, despite her repeated requests to be allowed to enter a convent of religious sisters.

[5] The marriage lasted for eighteen years, during which she was remembered for her Christian values as a model wife and mother who made efforts to convert her husband from his abusive behavior.

According to popular tales, through humility, kindness and patience, Rita was able to convert her husband into a better person, more specifically renouncing a family feud known at the time as La Vendetta.

[5][6] Her sons died of dysentery a year later, which pious Catholics believe was God's answer to her prayer, taking them by natural death rather than risk them committing a mortal sin punishable by Hell.

After the deaths of her husband and sons, Rita desired to enter the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Cascia, but was turned away.

Although the convent acknowledged Rita's good character and piety, the nuns were afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her husband's violent death and because she was not a virgin.

She implored her three patron saints (John the Baptist, Augustine of Hippo, and Nicholas of Tolentino) to assist her, and she set about the task of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia.

[3][5][8] Popular religious tales recall that the bubonic plague, which ravaged Italy at the time, infected Bernardo Mancini, causing him to relinquish his desire to feud any longer with the Chiqui family.

[14] The pope's private secretary, Fausto Poli, had been born some fifteen kilometers (nine miles) from her birthplace and much of the impetus behind her cult is due to his enthusiasm.

The three required miracles that led to her canonization are the following: the pleasant scent emanating from her incorruptible body; the cure of smallpox and the sudden recovery of sight of the young Elizabeth Bergamini, who had been staying for four months in the convent of Cascia, asking for Blessed Rita's intercession; and finally, the complete and sudden healing of Cosma Pellegrini in 1887, suffering from chronic catarrhal gastro-enteritis and an incurable hemorrhoidal affection, after having received a vision of the Blessed Rita on his deathbed.

[15] On the 100th anniversary of her canonization in 2000, Pope John Paul II noted her remarkable qualities as a Christian woman: "Rita interpreted well the 'feminine genius' by living it intensely in both physical and spiritual motherhood.

[4][6] She is also the patron saint of sterility, abuse victims, loneliness, marriage difficulties, parenthood, widows, the sick, bodily ills, and wounds.

[6] Augustinians claim that Rita's body has remained incorrupt over the centuries, and it is venerated today in the shrine at Cascia which bears her name.

Suddenly, a small wound appeared on her forehead, as though a thorn from the crown that encircled Christ's head had loosened itself and penetrated her own flesh.

However, when her relative went to the house, a single blooming rose was found in the garden, and her cousin brought it back to Rita at the convent.

The National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was built in 1907 and is a popular pilgrimage and devotional site.