Through the years, Rita distinguished herself as a humble, zealous religious woman in prayer and in all tasks with which she was entrusted, and as one capable of frequent fasting and penance. It is reported that the Abbess, to try Rita's humility during her novitiate, asked her to water an arid wood, and that her obedience was rewarded by God with a lush growth that flourishes to this day. Rita’s prayers and the intercessions of her patron saints instead lead to the peace between the families involved in the killing of Paolo di Mancino, and after so many obstacles, she was allowed to enter the monastery. At the age of 36, she asks to be welcomed by the Augustinian nuns of the Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena of Cascia, but her request is rejected: the religious, perhaps, feared the entrance of Rita - a widow of a murdered man - whose presence might have jeopardized the security of their community. Left alone in the world, Rita began a life of more intense prayer for her dear deceased family members, but also for the di Mancino family, that they might forgive and find peace. A disease caused the death of Giangiacomo and Paul Maria: her only comfort was to think of their souls, no longer in danger after escaping the climate of retaliation aroused by the murder of her spouse, their father. Rita did not cease to pray that more bloodshed be spared, making of prayer her weapon and consolation.Nevertheless, the tribulations did not cease. In her heart Rita forgives her husband’s murderers, but the Mancino family refused to let the incident pass unanswered, and pressed for revenge. To avoid having the children seek revenge, Rita hid their father’s bloody shirt. Their domestic serenity would not last, however, owing to the implacable factional strife of the era, in which Rita’s husband was involved owing to his kinship bonds, and was murdered. With love, understanding and patience, that of Rita and Paolo became a fruitful union, cheered by the arrival of two male children: Giangiacomo and Paolo Maria. The young Rita, however, through prayer, patience, and the ability to pacify that she learned from his parents, helped her spouse slowly but surely to live a more authentically Christian way of life. Society was rife with controversies and political rivalries, in which Rita’s husband was involved. Wife and motherĪround 1385, she married Paolo di Ferdinando di Mancino. John the Baptist, and Nicholas of Tolentino, whom Rita chose as his patron saints. From the friars, Rita learned devotion to St. Her parents, poor farmers and peasants, made sure she had good schooling and religious education in the nearby Cascia, in the care of the Augustinian friars. Margherita Lotti - “Rita” for short - was born in the small township of Roccaporena in Umbria, probably in 1371.
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