WTI Magazine #30    2014 May, 15
Author : folclore.it      Translation by:

The feast dedicated to St. Rita of Cascia is very complex because it is made of celebratory moments, spaces for reflection and prayers according to a liturgy born almost three hundred years ago.

In the name of Santa Rita, adhering to the message of peace that she has left in everyone's heart, during the celebrations people from everywhere reach Cascia (in the province of Perugia, Umbria) to remember this humble woman, immovable in her faith and determined to promote the ideals of peace.

The legend says that the saint's death was announced by bells that miraculously began to ring without any bell ringer and people came out of their homes with flashlights and torches.

Thus was born the "Luminaria" also known as "fire of faith".

The celebrations of St Rita begin with a torchlight procession, which commemorates the death of the saint: as the sun goes down thousands of lamps are lit, positioned on buildings and streets and lawns along the valley of the river Corno.

The next morning from Roccaporena, the birthplace of St. Rita, starts a procession that arrives to Cascia with a parade, reminiscent of scenes from the life of the saint.

Each year, then, twinnings are established with some surrounding municipalities, from which start athletes that reach the churchyard of St. Rita, where they receive the blessing at the presence of religious and civil authorities.