 In the coming Thursdays, the Augustinian friars will be celebrating the devotional Thursdays in preparation for the feast of Saint Rita practically in all their churches around Malta. The devotion of the fifteen Thursdays is linked to the fact that Saint Rita carried the thorn of in her forehead for fifteen years, after praying the Lord Jesus to share with him in the suffering that he suffered for us. Over the years, so many people have resorted to the intercession of Saint Rita with their difficulties and eagerly asked her to take their prayer before the Lord.
Saint Rita was an Augustinian nun who lived in central Italy more than 600 years ago. Along her life, she was a married woman, a mother of two sons, became a widow, and later joined the contemplative nuns in Cascia. These different stages of life, together with the challenges she experienced, make her a popular saint practically all over the Catholic world.
The Augustinian friars in many cities around the world have spread the devotion to this saint and presented her as a model of hope in so many difficulties that life brings about. It is customary that so many faitful resort to Augustinain churches on these Thursdays leading up to the feast of St. Rita, where special prayers are said with the intercession of the Saint of the Impossible.
The Feast of St. Rita in Valletta and Victoria Gozo, which are the main centers of devotion to the Saint on the islands, will be celebrated on the liturgical day, being the 22nd of May. Other Augustinian churches will celebrate it on other days close to that date.