page_title: Rita of Cascia
section_title: Iconography
hierarchical_section_title: Rita of Cascia / Iconography
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Andachtsbild - Rita von Cascia (+ 20. Mai 1447) Polski: Dewocjonalia: św. Ryta z Cascii (zm. 20 maja 1447)
context_page_description: Rita of Cascia was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
  After 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. 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.
  Pope Leo XIII canonised Rita on 24 May 1900. Her feast day is celebrated on 22nd May. At her canonisation 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. Her incorrupt body remains in the Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia.
context_section_description: Various religious symbols are related to Rita. She is depicted holding a thorn (a symbol of her penance and stigmata), holding a large Crucifix, holding a Palm leaf with three crowns (representing her two sons and husband), flanked by two small children (her sons), holding a Gospel book, holding a skull (a symbol of mortality) and holding a flagellum whip (a symbol of her mortification of the flesh).
caption: A popular religious depiction of Saint Rita during her partial Stigmata. The artist depicts her dressed in a black Augustinian habit, which is historically inaccurate as she would have worn the brown robe and white veil of the Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene from the 13th century.
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