Cascia, Santa Rita and Roccaporena from Rome Private Day Tour

The mortal remains of Saint Rita are venerated inside. Rita from Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (Roccaporena, 1381 - Cascia, 22 May 1457), was an Italian nun of the eremitan monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena, beatified by Pope Urban VIII in 1628 and proclaimed Saint by Pope Leo XIII in 1900.) In the first decades of the twentieth century, the steady increase in pilgrims visiting the reliquary with the remains of Saint Rita made the old church unsuitable for hosting such a large number of people. This was how Mother Maria Teresa Fasce, today blessed, abbess of the nearby monastery of Santa Rita da Cascia where Saint Rita had lived for more than forty years, promoted the construction of a new church suited to the needs of the faithful.

The village is located at a height of 707 m, at the end of a small gorge, about 6 km from Cascia. According to the Istat 2001 census data, it is inhabited by 73 residents. The town has existed since the Middle Ages, when, in 1381, Santa Rita da Cascia was born there. In 1939 the Opera di Santa Rita was founded, to promote the cult of the Saint, to cure and make known his memories to Roccaporena, and to do charitable works on his example by setting up an orphanage. The new Shrine was designed by the architect Oreste della Piana. The entrance is adorned with a portico; the interior has three naves, the apse, and the walls are adorned with mosaics. In two side chapels, there are six painted and multicolored glass windows made in 1966 by the Milanese artist Amalia Panigati. In the church, there is also the leather mantle which, according to tradition, belonged to Rita.