In Rita’s days, the Monastery was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. The ancient part dates back to the late 1200s. It was enlarged in the first half of the 1700s with the generous offers of John V, king of Portugal, cured of cheek cancer through intercession of the saint. The last enlargement took place in the second half of the 1900s, with construction of the Sanctuary.

Today, like yesterday, the Augustinian nuns express their consecration to God through silence, prayer and daily service to others.

The cloister

The cloister is one of the places where Saint Rita lived. Tradition has it that the Mother Superior asks Rita, barely a novice, to water a dry twig in the garden. Rita humbly obeys, drawing water from the well. Thus, one day, God turns the dry twig into a luxuriant vine.

On the wall next to the stairs, you can see small holes here and there; here is where the masonry bees live. An ancient popular belief links bees to the first miracle attributed to Rita in life:

As little Rita rests in the cot in the garden, she is approached by five white bees. These begin to enter and leave Rita’s mouth, without stinging her. Meanwhile, a peasant cuts his hand with a scythe while working. The man goes in search of help and, passing by the little one, notices the bees and starts to chase them away. Pulling back his hand, he realises with astonishment that he has been healed.

The ancient Choir

In the ancient Choir, Saint Rita is dressed as an Augustinian nun. Widowed, Rita asks to enter the monastery, but the Abbess opposes her, perhaps because in the monastery there is a relative sister of Paolo (Rita’s husband) who, like the rest of the family, does not accept Rita’s silence on the names of the man’s killers. After settling peace among the families involved in the feud, Rita finally manages to enter the monastery. Tradition has it that Rita was transported into the ancient Choir by her patron saints Augustine, John the Baptist and Nicholas of Tolentino.

Oratory of the Crucifix

In the Oratory of the Crucifix tradition has it that Saint Rita received the stigmata on her forehead:  on Good Friday in 1442, after listening to the sermon of Franciscan Saint James of the Marches, Rita ardently desires to suffer with Jesus. The Crucifix fulfils her wish: a thorn (from Jesus’ crown of thorns) sticks in Rita’s forehead causing the stigmata, which Rita will have on her forehead for 15 years, until her death.

The wedding ring and the crown of the rosary of Saint Rita are in the cell where you can also see the Baroque-style gilded urn, which contained the body of the saint from 1745 to 1930.

Next to it is the cell of Saint Rita, where the saint lived and died. Here is the solemn case that held Rita’s body at her death, in the fifteenth century, until 1745; it is the work of Mastro Cicco Barbaro who, crippled in his hands, is healed while praying before the body of the saint. On the case, there is the first depiction of Saint Rita.

The rose garden

On leaving, it is possible to see the rose garden created in memory of the miracle of the rose and the figs: at the end of her days, Rita asks one of her cousins to bring her two figs and a rose from the garden of the paternal house in Roccaporena. But it is winter, so the cousin thinks that Rita is delirious as a result of illness. Back home, the relative finds a rose and two figs in the garden covered in snow and, astonished, returns to Cascia to take them to Rita.

The rose garden of the Monastery is born from the roses of the garden of the miracle in Roccaporena, birthplace of Rita, about 5 km from Cascia.