Flanking the portal there are ten relief panels with Stories of St. Clare's life by Eros Pellini. On the lintel, the inscription is taken from the saint’s ancient sarcophagus: Salve Rita vas amoris, sponsa Christi dolorosa / tu de spinis Salvatoris nasceris pulchra ut rosa. Hail, Rita, vessel of love, bride of Christ, sorrowfully / from the Saviour’s thorns you spring forth, beautiful as a rose.
The interior is designed in the Byzantine style on a Greek cross plan with arms terminating in apses. Open loggias forming the women’s gallery run around the perimeter of the building.
The main apse was renovated in 1981 by architects Caproni, Genco and Srimieri. The high altar, designed by Giuseppe Martinenghi, is decorated with reliefs depicting the Last Supper by Eros Pellini and houses the "Corpus Christi", the cult whose veneration was recognized by Pope Boniface IX by Boniface IX. The furnishings were created by the renowned contemporary sculptor Giacomo Manzù. The oval tabernacle is remarkable, featuring a rose in the centre, surrounded by ears of wheat and grapevines and a crucifix shaped of olive fronds.
The fresco depicting the Last Supper is by Luigi Filocamo, while the stained glass window depicting the Eucharistic Miracles is by Armando Marrocco. The central area of the sanctuary is surmounted by a dome on which the painter Luigi Montanarini depicted the dove of the Holy Spirit and the Augustinian saints in glory.
The entrance apse was frescoed by Silvio Consadori in 1956. It depicts a procession of the faithful coming to venerate the cross. On the left, it includes a self-portrait of the artist, wearing a green cloak and holding a red book in his hand. On either side are the altars dedicated to Saint Lucia and Saint Joseph.
The fresco Assumption of Mary into Heaven in the apse was painted by Gisberto Ceracchini in 1950, shortly after the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption by Pope Pius XII. The designs for the windows, depicting Stories from the Life of Mary, are by Consadori. In the apse of Saint Rita there is a small 18th-century painting of the Lady of the Good Counsel and the parchment document by which Pope Pius XII elevated the church to the status of a shrine on August 1, 1955. The paintings are by Ferruccio Ferrazzi.
The chapel of Santa Rita, which houses the saint's body, lies behind a large wrought-iron gate. Under the altar of the chapel of Consolation is the body of Blessed Augustinian friar Simone Fidati (1295-1348), a notable writer and preacher who brought the relic of the "Corpus Christi" to Cascia, where it is now housed in the high altar. The miracle occurred in 1330 in Siena: while bringing Holy Communion to a sick man, a priest placed the host in his breviary. At the sick man’s house, he noticed that the host had turned into blood, and that the bloodstains were in the shape of a human face.
Interesting Facts
Every year, on the night between 21 and 22 May, Cascia holds a major festival in honour of Saint Rita, the Celebrations of Saint Rita, during which festive events alternate with moments of reflection and liturgical celebrations.
Information and tips
At the entrance to Cascia there is a large car park connected to the historic centre and the Sanctuary of Saint Rita by lifts and escalators. The nearby village of Roccaporena, birthplace of Saint Rita, is also worth visiting. There, visitors can see her house, now converted into a chapel, the Rock of Prayer where she meditated, the rose garden and vegetable plot linked to a miracle: in the harsh winter of 1457, just days before her death, a rose bloomed and a fig ripened there.
