Statue Saint Rita Da Cascia In The Church Of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva In The Communal Square Of Assisi In Italy. Editorial Photo

Pictured is a statue of Saint Rita da Cascia in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in the Communal Square of Assisi in Italy. Originally a Roman temple build in the 1st century, the Minerva temple was completely renovated and transformed to a church in honor of the mother of God on the order of Pope Paul III after a visit to Assisi in 1539. Saint Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Ferri Lotti-Mancini, was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Rita was a wife, mother, widow, and member of a religious community before becoming an Augustinian nun. She is the patron saint of abused women, the ill and wounded, difficult marriages, and lost and impossible causes.