Patroness of impossible causes

For difficult marriages, abuse, and situations with no way out.

St. Rita of Cascia was married at twelve to a violent man, endured him for eighteen years, lost both sons, and finally entered a convent she had been refused entry to three times. She is invoked for impossible causes because her own life kept being one.

The Prayer

O holy patroness of those in need,
St. Rita, whose pleadings before your divine Lord
are almost irresistible,
who for your lavishness in granting favours
have been called the Advocate of the Hopeless
and even of the Impossible:

St. Rita, so humble, so pure, so mortified, so patient,
and of such compassionate love for your crucified Jesus
that you could obtain from Him whatever you ask:

on that account all confidently have recourse to you,
expecting, if not always relief, at least comfort.

Be propitious to me and grant my request [name it],
and in return I promise to make known your favour,
to glorify and thank God for this new grace. Amen.

About This Devotion

Notice the phrase in the middle: if not always relief, at least comfort. It is one of the few traditional novena prayers honest enough to say so. Rita’s own prayers for her husband’s conversion were answered after eighteen years, shortly before he was murdered — the answer came, and it did not spare her anything.

Her feast is 22 May. She is invoked especially by women in difficult or abusive marriages. If you are in danger, seek help: prayer and safety are not in competition, and no one is obliged to remain where they are being harmed.