St. Rita of Cascia, Widow

Statue of St. Rita of Cascia in St. Rita's Catholic Church, Alexandria, Virginia, USA

"O God, Who didst vouchsafe to confer on St. Rita so great grace that she loved her enemies and bore in her heart and on her brow the stigmata of Thy love and passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, by her intercession and merits, so to spare our enemies and to meditate on the pains of Thy passion that we may obtain the rewards promised to the meek and to them that mourn. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen."

-Traditional collect of the feast of St. Rita of Cascia, Widow, 22 May.

[Posted in the early morning hours of 23 May 2009, and back-dated to 22 May 2009.]