Traditional litany for private devotion

Litany of Saint Rita of Cascia

The advocate of impossible causes — for 22 May and the hardest cases

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Rita of Cascia, pray for us.
Saint Rita, advocate of impossible causes, pray for us.
Saint Rita, exemplary wife and mother, pray for us.
Saint Rita, who didst forgive thy husband’s murderers, pray for us.
Saint Rita, who didst give thy sons to God, pray for us.
Saint Rita, patient widow, pray for us.
Saint Rita, Augustinian nun, pray for us.
Saint Rita, model of obedience, pray for us.
Saint Rita, lover of prayer, pray for us.
Saint Rita, devoted to the Passion of Christ, pray for us.
Saint Rita, wounded by a thorn from the Lord’s crown, pray for us.
Saint Rita, who didst bear the wound on thy brow for fifteen years, pray for us.
Saint Rita, rose blooming in winter, pray for us.
Saint Rita, mirror of patience, pray for us.
Saint Rita, pearl of humility, pray for us.
Saint Rita, comfort of the afflicted, pray for us.
Saint Rita, refuge of the despairing, pray for us.
Saint Rita, help in sickness, pray for us.
Saint Rita, protectress of families in trouble, pray for us.
Saint Rita, support of mothers, pray for us.
Saint Rita, advocate in difficult cases, pray for us.
Saint Rita, model of forgiveness, pray for us.
Saint Rita, example of perseverance, pray for us.
Saint Rita, worker of miracles, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

℣ Pray for us, Saint Rita.
℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

O God, who didst deign to bestow on Saint Rita such grace that she loved her enemies and bore in her heart and on her brow the marks of thy charity and thy Passion: grant us, by her intercession and merits, to forgive our enemies and to meditate on the sorrows of thy Passion, that we may obtain what thou hast promised to the meek and to those who mourn. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

Amen.

SourceTraditional litany for private devotion · The advocate of impossible causes — for 22 May and the hardest cases

The history of this prayer

St Rita (1381–1457), of Cascia in Umbria, was the wife of a violent man whom she converted and whose murderers she forgave; the mother of two sons, for whom she asked God that they die before taking revenge; and, as a widow, an Augustinian nun. For the last fifteen years of her life she bore on her brow a wound opened by a thorn from Christ’s crown. In the winter she died she asked for a rose from the garden of her old home, and the rose bloomed in the snow.

Because she passed through what seemed hopeless — her marriage, her widowhood, her entry into the convent, refused three times — the people called her advocate of impossible causes, and the litany repeats the title. It is prayed on 22 May, on the Thursdays dedicated to her and in the novena for impossible causes. A litany for private devotion; our own rendering.

Frequently asked questions

Why is St Rita the saint of impossible causes?

Because her life passed through situations with no human way out: she converted her violent husband, forgave his murderers, entered the convent after three refusals and bore a wound on her brow for fifteen years. The people came to invoke her in desperate cases.

When is the Litany of St Rita prayed?

On 22 May, her feast day, on Thursdays and in the fifteen days or the novena preparing the feast, and whenever one prays for a difficult cause.

What is the connection between St Rita and the rose?

In the winter of 1457, already ill, she asked for a rose from the garden of the house where she had lived; the rose bush was found blooming in the snow. That is why roses are blessed on her feast.

More prayers: Litanies

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