My Journey

Basilica of Saint Rita in Cascia

Cascia's principal pilgrimage sanctuary, where Saint Rita's body is venerated beside the Augustinian monastery that keeps her life of prayer, forgiveness, and second vocation in view.

Location
Cascia, Italy 42.7188° N · 13.0125° E
Type
Minor basilica, saint shrine, and Augustinian monastery complex Twentieth-century Greek-cross basilica with a central dome and four apses
Dedication
Saint Rita of Cascia Saint Rita's urn, reconciliation, and the Augustinian life
Time Needed
30 minutes to half a day
Why Go

A Shrine Where Grief Becomes a New Vocation

Pilgrims bring desperate prayers to Cascia, but the basilica gives them more than a devotional title. Rita was a wife, mother, widow, peacemaker, and Augustinian religious. Before her urn, conflict and bereavement are not denied. They are placed within the Passion of Christ and the hope that grace can open a faithful future after loss.

The Monastery, the Veneration, and the Modern Basilica

Rita lived and died in the Augustinian community at Cascia in the fifteenth century. Her local veneration began quickly, and the city recorded early favors attributed to her intercession. Pope Leo XIII canonized her in 1900. The present basilica grew from Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce's desire to receive pilgrims coming from around the world; construction began in 1937, and Rita's body was placed in the present urn in 1947.

The pale travertine facade rises above Cascia with twin towers and sculpted panels recounting Rita's received story. Inside, a central dome and four broad apses order the Greek-cross plan around liturgy and the saint's urn. The building is modern, but its purpose is inseparable from the older monastery beside it.

The basilica should be read together with the active Augustinian monastery.

Rita's memory joins marriage, motherhood, widowhood, reconciliation, and religious life rather than only 'impossible causes.'

Spiritual Significance

Spiritual Significance

This is an active Catholic sanctuary, not a museum of the impossible. Mass, Confession, the Rosary, Augustinian prayer, and the steady arrival of families form the place. The most truthful visit lets popular devotion mature into forgiveness, perseverance, and a willingness to begin again.

Do Not Miss · 3 stops

Do Not Miss

  1. Saint Rita's urn

    Her body is venerated in the silver-and-crystal urn at the devotional center of the upper basilica, placed there on May 18, 1947 and surrounded by representations of the cardinal virtues.

  2. The relationship between basilica and monastery

    The basilica is modern, begun in 1937, but it stands beside the Augustinian monastery where Rita lived and died, and the two are meant to be read together.

  3. The facade reliefs as received devotional memory

    The sculpted panels on the travertine facade recount episodes from Rita's received life, presenting the devotional tradition rather than a documentary record.

What to notice
  • How many states of life are gathered into Rita's one vocation.
  • The difference between asking for an outcome and asking for the grace to forgive.
  • The living Augustinian community beside the international shrine.
Visit Plans · 2 plans · add to a journey

Visit Plans

  • Duration 30 minutes

    Prayer Before the Urn

    Enough only for focused prayer before the urn.

  • Duration Half day

    Rita in Cascia

    3 ordered stops

    A focused visit to the basilica, urn, liturgy, and monastery context.

    1. Begin with Mass or quiet prayer in the basilica.
    2. Pray before Saint Rita's urn.
    3. Join a monastery visit if the current schedule permits.
How to Visit

How to Visit

Check the official sanctuary page for the current basilica, Mass, Confession, and monastery-visit schedule. Enter for prayer before photography, allow the liturgy and other pilgrims to set the pace, and treat monastery access as the hospitality of a living religious community.

  • Daily Mass and the prayer of the Augustinian community
  • Regular Confession and seasonal devotional celebrations
  • Pilgrim prayer before Saint Rita's urn
Current Practical Information · reviewed July 29, 2026

Plan around worship and the monastery schedule.

The sanctuary publishes seasonal basilica, Mass, Confession, and guided monastery-visit times. Verify the live page shortly before travel.

Address
Viale Santa Rita, 06043 Cascia PG
Allow
At least half a day for prayer, basilica, and monastery context
Before visiting
Confirm seasonal opening, Mass, Confession, and monastery-tour times on the official sanctuary site.
  • The basilica remains an active place of worship.
  • Monastery visits follow set guided times and the needs of the community.
Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects

Body of Saint Rita in the basilica urn

Saint's body
Sanctuary of Saint Rita, official basilica page
Documented

The official sanctuary states that the urn contains Saint Rita's body and records its placement here on May 18, 1947.

Source note Traditional attributions are presented as tradition, with documentation named where it exists.

Connected Saints

Connected Saints

Rita is the reason for the pilgrimage; Augustine gives the monastery its spiritual family.

Saint Rita of Cascia Body and principal shrine The basilica and monastery complex where Saint Rita’s body is venerated and her Augustinian memory remains living. Saint Augustine of Hippo Augustinian tradition Bishop and teacher whose rule shaped the religious life Rita entered at Cascia.
Map · Cascia, Italy

Map

Editorial sources

The page follows the official sanctuary and Augustinian Order. It names chronological uncertainty, avoids a medical claim about the body, and refuses to reduce Rita to transactional 'impossible causes' devotion.

Official

santaritadacascia.org

Last reviewed

July 29, 2026

Photo credits
  1. Hero. 66colpi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.