What do you do when you keep praying, nothing changes… and somehow life gets even harder? Saint Rita of Cascia knew exactly what that felt like. Her marriage to Paolo Mancini was filled with hardship, and then her husband was murdered because of a bitter family feud. Rita chose forgiveness. But her teenage sons wanted revenge. She feared hatred would destroy their souls, so when she could not change their hearts herself, she prayed. Her sons never carried out their revenge. But both later died, leaving Rita without her husband or her children. She had lost her entire family, but she did not lose her faith. Rita wanted to give the rest of her life completely to God, so she tried to enter the Augustinian convent in Cascia. Even then, the door did not immediately open. She was rejected before finally being accepted. There, she devoted herself to prayer, charity, and Jesus Crucified. Then something extraordinary happened. While praying before an image of Jesus crowned with thorns, Rita received a wound on her forehead resembling one of the wounds from Christ’s Crown of Thorns. She carried it until her death. Her suffering did not push her away from Jesus. It drew her closer to Him. Saint John Paul II later said, “Rita, with Christ and like Christ, goes to the Cross always and only through love.” After her death in 1457, people continued asking for her prayers. Miracles attributed to her intercession were examined during her canonization process, and Pope Leo XIII canonized her in 1900. Today, Catholics know Saint Rita as a powerful intercessor for impossible and hopeless causes because she knew what it meant to pray when nothing seemed to change, lose people she loved, watch her family fall apart, and keep trusting God anyway. So if you are carrying something right now that feels impossible, do not stop praying. Ask Saint Rita to pray with you. 🙏 Here is the traditional prayer to Saint Rita for any intention: 🙏 O Holy Patroness of those in need, St. 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 of the impossible. St. Rita, so humble, so pure, so mortified, so patient and of such compassionate love for thy Crucified Jesus, that thou couldst obtain from Him whatsoever thou askest, on account of which all confidently have recourse to thee expecting, if not always relief, at least comfort; be propitious to our petition, showing thy power with God on behalf of thy suppliant; be lavish to us, as thou hast been in so many wonderful cases, for the greater glory of God, for the spreading of thine own devotion, and for the consolation of those who trust in thee. We promise, if our petition is granted, to glorify thee by making known thy favor, to bless and sing thy praises forever. Relying then upon thy merits and power before the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we pray thee grant that [here mention your request]. By the singular merits of thy childhood, Obtain for us our request. By thy perfect union with the Divine Will, Obtain for us our request. By thy heroic sufferings during thy married life, Obtain for us our request. By the consolation thou didst experience at the conversion of thy husband, Obtain for us our request. By the sacrifice of thy children rather than see them grievously offend God, Obtain for us our request. By the miraculous entrance into the convent, Obtain for us our request. By thy severe penances and thrice daily bloody scourgings, Obtain for us our request. By the suffering caused by the wound thou didst receive from the thorn of thy Crucified Savior, Obtain for us our request. By the Divine love which consumed thy heart, Obtain for us our request. By that remarkable devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Obtain for us our request. On which alone thou didst exist for four years, Obtain for us our request. By the happiness with which thou didst part from thy trials to join thy Divine Spouse, Obtain for us our request. By the perfect example thou gavest to people of every state of life. Obtain for us our request. Pray for us, O holy St. Rita, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: O God, Who in Thine infinite tenderness hast vouchsafed to regard the prayer of Thy servant, Blessed Rita, and dost grant to her supplication that which is impossible to human foresight, skill and efforts, in reward of her compassionate love and firm reliance on Thy promise, have pity on our adversity and succor us in our calamities, that the unbeliever may know Thou art the recompense of the humble, the defense of the helpless, and the strength of those who trust in Thee, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen. 💬 What is one situation in your life that feels impossible right now, but you’re still praying about?