In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is the codex of miracles, that is, an official collection of miracles of Saint Rita of Cascia
that is found in some scrolls of the convent of Saint Rita.
There are two copies of this Codex miraculorum, one is inserted in the Acts of the process of 1626
and the other in the Archives of the Augustinian Order in Rome.
In total, there are 40 miracles that refer to the healing of the deaf, blind, disabled and other various ills.
Many of these miracles occurred when the sick knelt next to Saint Rita's body.
When a miracle happened, a soft perfume spread that incited devotion, as witnesses say.
The first three fascicles of the Codex miraculorum end with the formula
which means in English "and I notary public by the imperial authority",
following the signature of the notary.
At the beginning of the first fascicle,
the notary Domenico Angeli makes a brief review of the life of Saint Rita, indicating her high
social status, and says
which means in English
"certain most honest, sister Mrs. Rita",
having after forty years as a nun in the cloister of
the predicted church of Saint Mary Magdalen of Cascia,
living with charity in the service of God,
the fate of every human being followed in the end.
And God, in whose service she
persevered for the foretold time,
wanting to show the other faithful a model of life
so that, as she had lived serving God with fasting and prayers,
admirably worked many miracles and
prodigies with His power
and by the merits of Blessed Rita.
Above all, on May 25th, 1457.
The feast of Saint Rita of Cascia was officially established in the Statutes of Cascia in 1545
to be celebrated on May 22nd every year with the assistance of the authorities.
On October 14th, 1626, Saint Rita's body was examined and she appeared
incorrupt as if she had recently died. Next to the tomb, 216 ex-votos of small tablets could be seen,
which manifested some miracle performed through the intercession of the saint.
Of these 216 tablets, 108 were dated. There were also about 230 precious objects such as
candlesticks, chalices, silver plates and others, donated in gratitude for some grace received.
The nuns of the convent presented to the Commission a cloth called "very old",
painted with six different scenes. This cloth has disappeared, but the judges were able to examine
it. Some say it was from the year 1462 or a little more. The judges say: We can consider
that this cloth is very close to the death of the saint. The judges describe it like this:
First, when Blessed Rita was in her crib and five bees entered and came out of her mouth in
the presence of her father and her mother who are looking at her and are next to her crib.
Second, Blessed Rita is seen at the door of the monastery. Behind it there is a tree and the image
of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
with an inscription at the bottom: When Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustine
of Hippo and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino came in vision to Blessed Rita to become a nun.
Third, Blessed Rita is seen, dressed as a nun, kneeling, and the other nuns standing.
One of them has her hand on her head. You can also see the portrait of Saint Augustine of Hippo
and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino with an inscription at the bottom that reads:
When Blessed Rita became a religious and took the habit of Saint Monica,
mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo, and was received by the others.
Fourth, Blessed Rita is seen kneeling before a Christ with her hands clasped,
wearing a rosary crown, dressed as a nun and with a book open before her. She has a bloody
point on her forehead with an inscription at the bottom, which because of its age cannot be read.
Fifth, the image of the dead saint is seen with two men kneeling before her bed,
one of whom kisses her hands. There are also six standing women who, with folded hands,
are entrusted to her; with an inscription at the bottom, which due to antiquity cannot be read.
Sixth, Blessed Rita is seen lying dead on the coffin with her hands crossed and
a fence against the same place, where today it is preserved with an inscription at the bottom,
which due to its antiquity cannot be read.
And they add: All this we, the notaries, have seen, we have had in our hands and
we have written down with all truthfulness and we have returned the cloth to the nuns.
On the other hand, they presented 50 witnesses. Of them, 20 were women. It is curious to note
that of the 20 women, including seven nuns from the convent, none could sign. Among the men,
apart from the religious and ecclesiastical, there were only two who knew how to sign.
The miracles narrated by the witnesses are 76, of which 26 refer to them or to other relatives,
friends or acquaintances of theirs. Several of them speak of having heard from their grandparents
about the bells that rang at her death and about the miracle of figs and roses before she died.
They also speak of the miracles performed with Saint Rita's bread rolls
or those performed with her relics, especially with bits of her dresses.
There are witnesses who speak of the perfume that came out of her tomb and of the miracles performed
with the oil from the lamp that burned before the image of Saint Rita in the convent church.
A witness speaks of a young man named Angelo who was in a coma and everyone considered him dead.
His mother, Doralice de Santi, a widow, got some of the oil from the lamp that burns next to Saint
Rita's grave, she anointed her son's forehead and he regained his consciousness and health.
A young Augustinian friar, 25 years old, of a violent nature, who had fought several
times with other religious with his fists and had been punished for it, affirms
Father Giovanni, confessor of the nuns, gave me four bread rolls made by the sisters with miracle
vine powder and dried rose petals. I returned to my convent in Norcia and ate one and was freed,
not only from physical discomfort, since I had a continuous fever that the doctors could not cure,
but also from inner ills, since I stopped being violent.
The apostolic protonotary Colangeli himself,
after investigating the process, realized that he had also been healed of a sciatica
and a rheumatic disease, and wrote it as one of the miracles considered true, having a
picture made on a sheet of silver on marble to leave it in his grave as a record and thanks.
The process lasted less than a month, from October 14 to November 11,
1626. And everything was written and signed by the members of the Commission in the
Proceedings of the process, which are preserved.
Pope Urban VIII granted in 1627 to the Diocese of
Spoleto and to the men and women religious of the Order of Saint Augustine the faculty to celebrate
the Divine Office and the Mass in honor of Saint Rita of Cascia on May 22nd. On February 14th,
1628, he granted secular priests that they could also celebrate Mass in honor of Saint Rita
in the Augustinian churches. With these decisions, which authorized the public worship of the saint,
her beatification was practically accepted.
Saint Rita was solemnly declared blessed in Rome on July
16th, 1628 in the church of Saint Augustine with the assistance of several cardinals.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.