2013 Spring Peacemaker - National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia

VIeW fRoM My WInDoW by fR. MIChael DIGReGoRIo o.s.aSAinT RiTAand The wORKOF PeACeOVeR TwenTYYeARS AGOthe PriorProvincial of theAugustinians in the eastern UnitedStates entrusted to three friarsunder his jurisdiction the taskof revisiting the way in which theProvince was ministering at theChurch of Saint Rita in SouthPhiladelphia. The Augustinians hadbeen the founders of the parish in1907. It was established to serve amixed congregation of both longstandingfamilies, mostly of Irishheritage, and a very large wave ofnewly arrived Italian immigrants.There was a great need for this newchurch and the congregation grewquickly. Saint Rita had been canonizedjust a few years earlier in 1900,and was the Augustinians' newestsaint. There were not yet manychurches named for her in thecountry, and none in Philadelphia.She was thus chosen as patroness,and the friars soon gave their all inpromoting devotion to her. Thatdevotion spread far and wide, bringingenormous crowds of people forweekly devotions from throughoutthe city and beyond. The churchserved not only as a parish forthousands in the neighborhood,but as a pilgrim site for thousandsmore from various destinations6throughout many decades. In the1960s and 70s the face of SaintRita Parish underwent a significanttransformation, the number ofparishioners declined, as diddevotion to Saint Rita herself. Butthe devotion never disappeared.Her feast would continue to drawthousands of faithful former residentsof South Philly, as well as otherdevotees, who would proudly recallthe number of years they had beenmaking the pilgrimage to SouthBroad Street. The invitation madein 1992 to look again at Saint Rita'sand to rekindle the flames ofdevotion met with immediate andincreasing success, as the mostrecent chapter of the Shrine'sstory attests.I mention the above because it wouldoften intrigue me that with so muchelse changing in society, in theChurch, and in people’s personallives, other things — like this devotionto Saint Rita — would remain aconstant. I’ve come to learn, aftertelling Saint Rita’s story over andover again to individuals, pilgrimgroups and churches filled withvisitors — and hearing their storiesas well — that there is often somethingvery personal that connectsindividuals to Saint Rita and that'something' remains important overthe long term.