Halloween: St. Rita of Cascia Costume

I love Halloween!  It used to be my favorite holiday because of the costumes.  Why dream of being a princess when you can make it happen - even if it’s just for a day.  After a rough beginning (when I returned to the Catholic faith) Halloween continues to be a day that inspires my creativity.  As a revert, initially I was only going to be a “little” Catholic because I felt like the religious life meant “No” to most fun. In fact, the first challenge I faced was the opposition to my favorite holiday by the young adult group that I belonged to.  Every year they devoted a session to “Say NO to Halloween!”  I, of course, thought what lunacy.  While I have come to understand the arguments that some Christians have against Halloween, today I employ my creativity beyond the costume making to the way I celebrate the day itself.  In past posts I’ve mentioned how I tag all my candy with “Jesus, loves you stickers” so that during the one night a year that tons of people come so willingly to my door they will leave with treat in hand and a message of love.  October thirty-first is the day that I evangelize the masses of trick-or-treaters!  Instead of turning off my porch light and saying no, I use the opportunity to share God in a very casual way.  In the years, since I started doing this I have never gotten a single complaint and my nephew and I enjoy having a moment together stamping our candy with a faith filled message.

I also choose a saint to study during the October month and then pay tribute by dressing up as her for the festivity.  It's also a way of evangelizing others, when people ask me who I am dressed as I can share a little about the saint.  One of the women in my Franciscan Fraternity saw me for the first time and she was like "hey, you're Saint Helena" (she was referring to the costume I wore a few years back).  This year, I was cruising through Savers when I noticed that a complete costume of a nun was on sale for $4.99, score!  I found the classic black habit so then I started a Google search for nun saints that wore black habits and after some perusing I came across Saint Rita of Cassia.  She attracted me because, like Saint Jude Thaddeus she is the saint of the impossible.  I found a book on PDF that told her biography and after I got the news that I was being laid off, I devoured the work in just one sitting.  God has the most amazing sense of humor and proper timing because my saint selection this year couldn’t have been a more suitable life to study. 

From a young age Saint Rita desired to be a nun, but being the only child her parents wanted her to marry.  Obedient to their will she married a man they selected for her, he turned out cruel and abusive.  Yet, she remained faithful baring two sons who she loved deeply.  She constantly prayed for the conversion of her husband and after almost eighteen years she won him over with patience and kindness.  However, he got caught up in wrong circles and was assassinated.  His death provoked her two sons to seek revenge.  Unable to persuade her sons to forgive, prayer became her only hope.  Afraid of eternal damnation for her sons she asked God to intervene; to change her son’s hearts or to take them before they killed anyone.  Within a year both of her children passed away in a state of grace forgiving their father's murderer. Without any family left, she decided to dedicate the rest of her life to God.  She wanted to enter the convent, but she was turned away.  Facing another crushing disappointment she turned to prayer and God gave her the perseverance to try again until she was accepted at the convent.  Though her life was painfully challenging she found refuge in prayer uniting her sufferings to Christ.  One day during prayer in front of a crucifix she received a physical wound on her forehead, a mystical and visible mark of Jesus’ wound from the crown of thorns.  She is also one of the incorruptible saints, her body is venerated at a basilica in Italy.

Walking with her this month, has been a delight because I know that God sent her my way to encourage and to show me that prayer moves mountains! And to remind me that even in difficult times God is with me and He longs to share my suffering.  Why waste a day trying to keep evil out, when instead we can deposit good and use the occasion to evangelize others and ourselves!    

“Prayer to St. Rita of Cascia”

“O holy protectress of those who are in utmost need,
shining as a star of hope in the midst of darkness,
in patience and fortitude as the patriarch Job,
scourge of devils, health of the sick,
deliverer of those in extreme need,
admiration of saints and model of all states!

“With confident trust, and firmly united to the adorable will of my God,
through the merits of my only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
and in particular of that painful crown of thorns
which with a tender devotion thou didst daily contemplate;
through the merits of the most sweet Virgin Mary
and thine own excellent graces and virtues,
I implore thee with my whole heart and soul, to obtain my earnest petition,
provided it be for the greater glory of God and my salvation.”