A story about St. Rita

“Ask St. Rita!” my sister texted me, “If it's meant to be yours – she'll make it happen.”

 In spite of a vocation where I consistently share about connecting with angels, saints, plants, animals, Nature – helpers of the seen & unseen – I too need the reminder to ask for assistance. And in this particular instance, it had to do with a house that felt like home.

My partner and I have been looking to find our home for awhile – and that day, I felt we had finally found it. A quaint home with mature fruit trees in the backyard – pears, plums, apples, tart cherries, elderberries, blueberries, blackberries(!) … it was an oasis. A place I could keep bees and grow a lush garden. This home was miraculously in our price range and listed underprice – I knew it would go fast.

I said a prayer to St. Rita, the Saint of Impossible Causes – asking that if this house was meant to be ours, please illuminate the way.

I first became aware of St. Rita in the summer of 2022 through my family. At that time, my sister had recently been diagnosed with cancer, it was a shock to us all – and in the midst of her processing the news and researching options - a book about St. Rita quite literally flew off the shelf for her. She began calling upon the Saint of Impossible Causes to help her, her husband, and their two very young children through this time.

In the midst of preparing for her treatment, my sister knew that they needed to move out of the city. She saw herself and her family surrounded by nature in a more peaceful oasis. She saw herself healing surrounded by green, not concrete. They had no intentions of moving prior to that, and it wasn't exactly easy uprooting their lives in the midst of everything else going on. Yet – when I talked to my sister about it, she'd say, “Rita's on it.”

And sure enough, within two weeks of making this choice – my sister's husband happened upon a home that was perfect for them. It wasn't officially listed yet so they didn't have to get into a stressful bidding situation. Somehow within 4 weeks, they had purchased a home outside of the city, surrounded by trees and nature – listed and sold their home, moved their family to nature, and my sister was able to set up all of her treatments at the local facility instead of traveling an hour into the city.

My sister began her treatments within 2 weeks of moving into their new home – and I'm not going to sugarcoat and say that calling upon St. Rita made it all a walk in the park. It was an impossible time. And yet – moving through this impossible time became possible with the strength of faith. My sister's relationship with St. Rita gave her spiritual strength to meet the seeming impossibility of what she was moving through. My sister completed treatments last year and has been cancer free since … she still calls on Rita for all things big and small, and continues to be her steadfast advocate.

So fast-forward nearly 2 years – and my sister reminded me to ask for Rita's help in the midst of a tense-yet-hopeful situation. My partner and I felt called to make our offer with a love letter - we wrote a letter to the sellers telling them about ourselves, not holding back – I shared how I am a somatic counselor, herbalist, and natural beekeeper … we spoke about how much we love the fruit trees and how we intended to keep bees in the backyard. We submitted our offer and prayed.

Our realtors called us back the next day and told us the sellers had received a few offers – some that were higher than our offer. My heart dropped. Then - our realtor paused before slyly smiling and saying, “Yet…I have some great news for you.”

Apparently the sellers loved our letter – it turns out one of the sellers is also a somatic counselor for highly sensitive people and used to keep bees in the backyard prior to putting in on the market. In the end, the sellers chose our offer not because we had the highest bid … they chose our offer because of the bees & trees and overall resonance.

With honeybees serving as a symbol of St. Rita, I took their presence in the midst of the sale as a signature of St. Rita. We closed on the home a few weeks ago and will be moving in by the end of summer🐝 

**

Saints are down-to-Earth miracle makers. Saints are friends. Saints are resourced and ready helpers – and when you deepen your relationship with Saints, as I have with St. Rita thanks to my sister – you can experience their presence as a trusted friend.

For some reading this, you might be thinking, well – why don't I just call upon God or the Universe? Can't I keep it simple and just return to the Divine rather than complicate it with needing to know all these different saint names?

Of course! You can do what resonates for you. Saints and Angels are messengers and hands of God, Source, Spirit, Universe, Nature. You can keep it as simple as you'd like to – you can even relate to St. Rita as an aspect of the Divine who assists through seeming impossible circumstances, both big and small.

The reason I create spaces to connect with saints, angels, plants, fae – the unseen helpers – is because I have experienced immeasurable blessings with their presences, and I just want to share it with anyone and everyone called to deepen this relationship within their own lives. 

St. Rita has a unique and distinctly different essence than St. Hildegard of Bingen or St. Francis or Our Lady of Lourdes. St. Rita feels like my resilient, unf*ckable-with aunt who makes honey in her spare time – the one who surprises me with her sweetness. The one I call to share the best and worst of times with.

While each of the Saints exude unconditional, heartfelt service – they all have unique signatures and essences! Connecting with the Saints as friends, the Saints as allies, the Saints as down-to-Earth miracle makers can be both a deeply personal and universal experience.

I created Summer of Saints to gather together in celebration of the Saints and to sincerely ask for and open to receive their blessings and miraculous interventions in our lives and our world. I want to live in a world where people are welcoming in and listening to their saints and angels!

Our first Summer of Saints class is next Tuesday, June 18th with St. Rita. If you're called to deepen intimacy with the patroness of impossible causes, I'd love to welcome you into this experience.

Click here to receive all the details!

With love and honey,

Madeline