I was named after Saint Rita because my mother believed she was the saint of the afflicted. She named me after this saint because my sister, some 8 years older than me, was born with Down’s Syndrome. My mother thought I might take after my name-saint, Rita, and help my sister. After my sister died at age 37, I decided to do some research on St. Rita. Turns out she is not the saint of the afflicted, but the saint of impossible causes. My youngest daughter thinks there is nothing I can’t accomplish, so maybe the name fits in an odd sort of way. I like St. Rita, and I have been told she is more popular than St. Mary in Italy. I guess we all have a lot of “impossible causes.” Human nature is just that way, a lot of impossible situations we have to pray our way through or around. I’ve never personally prayed to St. Rita, but I know many people who do pray to her. I know my mother, as a good Catholic, prayed to her and lit candles regularly for my sister. May they both rest in peace; I know they have risen in Glory and now live among the saints.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19