Saint of the Impossible

Exploring my apartment last month, I found this "Italian Still Life." An empty box of Peroni and this statuette.
Meet Santa Rita.
Patron Saint of the Italian region of Umbria, Saint Rita is famous here in Rome.

Her story goes like this: When she was on her deathbed, her cousin visited her at the convent and asked her if she wanted anything from her home. Rita responded that all she wanted was a rose. Her cousin returned to Umbria, where it was January and snowing, knowing that it was impossible to find a rose. But when she went to the garden, she found a single blooming rose. The rose bush still exists today in Umbria.

That is why...Saint Rita is the patron saint of impossible or lost causes. She is also the Patron saint of loneliness, baseball, illness, difficult marriages, and infertility.

And no, she does not have a red dot on her forehead because she is secretly Hindu. One day Santa Rita asked God to have her suffer like Christ suffered. At that very moment, a thorn from a cruxifixtion of Christ, fell and landed on her forehead leaving her with a permanant scar. (A little "Ask and you shall receive!")And so, after hearing this story...I stumbled into the nearest gift shop and said to the shopkeeper, "Ho bisogno di Santa Rita!" I need Santa Rita! Now, as I wander around Rome, my own personal Saint Rita comes with me, reminding me that, "Impossible is nothing."

So, the next time you're presented with a task that seems impossible, ask for Santa Rita's help and you just might get the help that you're looking for.