Their story
Rita was born around 1381 in Roccaporena, near Cascia in Umbria. She wanted to be a nun, but her parents arranged her marriage at about twelve to Paolo Mancini. Her early lives describe him as hot-tempered and violent. She is said to have answered his harshness with patience and prayer, and over the years he softened. They had two sons.
Paolo was murdered in a feud between local families. Her sons were set on avenging their father. According to her biographers, Rita prayed that they would rather die than commit murder, and both died of illness within about a year. She forgave her husband's killers and worked to reconcile the families. Then she asked to join the Augustinian (religious who follow the Rule of St. Augustine) nuns of St. Mary Magdalene in Cascia. They refused three times—partly because of the feud—until it was settled.
In the convent, around 1442, she received a wound on her forehead, which she understood as sharing a thorn from Christ's crown. It stayed for some fifteen years. She died on May 22, 1457; her body is venerated in Cascia. Her life was written down long after her death, so many details are traditional. People turn to her because she knew domestic violence, grief and revenge from the inside, and still chose forgiveness.
