അനുദിന വിശുദ്ധർ (Saint of the Day) May 22nd – St. Rita of Cascia & St. Ivo of Kermartin

അനുദിന വിശുദ്ധർ (Saint of the Day) May 22nd – St. Rita of Cascia & St. Ivo of Kermartin

അനുദിന വിശുദ്ധർ (Saint of the Day) May 22nd – St. Rita of Cascia & St. Ivo of Kermartin

St. Rita of Cascia
Augustiniannun, also called Margarita. She was born in Roccaporena, near Spoleto, Italy, in 1381, and expressed from an early age the desire to become a nun. Her elderly parents insisted that she be married at the age of twelve to a man described in accounts of her life as cruel and harsh. She spent eighteen extremely unhappy years, had two sons, and was finally widowed when her husband was killed in a brawl. Both sons also died, and Rita, still anxious to become a nun, tried unsuccessfully to enter the Augustinians in their convent at Cascia. She was refused because she was a widow and because of the requirement that all sisters should be virgins. Finally, in 1413, the order gave her entry, and she earned fame for her austerity, devotion to prayer, and charity.

In the midst of chronic illnesses, she received visions and wounds on her forehead which resembled the crown of thorns. She died on May 22 at Cascia, and many miracles were reported instantly. Canonized in 1900, she is honored in Spain as La Santa de los Impossibles and elsewhere as a patron saint of hopeless causes.

St. Ivo of Kermartin
Ivo Helory, a legal scholar from Kermartin, France, served as an ecclesiastical judge in the dioceses of Rennes and Treguier, becoming known as an advocate of the poor. Following his ordination, he served as a parish priest for eighteen years. Each day before celebrating Mass, and at other times as well, he would prostrate himself before the altar, tearfully offering fervent prayers. Similarly, he would prepare for his sermons on his knees. In his preaching, Ivo habitually included examples drawn from the lives of the saints. He kept his breviary and his Bible at his side almost constantly. Ivo generously gave his time to his priestly duties of hearing confessions and bringing Viaticum to the dying, carrying the Eucharist in a silver pyx over his heart. On his deathbed, Ivo kept his eyes fixed upon a crucifix placed before a window of his room. Upon hearing a bystander speak of asking for a doctor, Ivo responded that his only doctor was Jesus Christ. He repeatedly made the sign of the cross before breathing his last. Ivo is venerated as a patron saint of lawyers.