Special events planned for St. Rita shrine

It's a little like having a guest star.

A saint who is not St. Rita of Cascia will play a prominent role in activities at St. Rita's national shrine in South Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families.

The visitor is St. Maria Goretti, whose name (along with that of St. John Neumann) graces Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School in South Philly.

Encased in a wax statue that is sealed in a glass casket, the remains of the 11-year-old Italian girl, mortally wounded while resisting a sexual assault, will be on display for veneration at the shrine from noon to 8 p.m. on Sept. 23. Maria died in 1902 after forgiving her attacker, making her - in the eyes of the Catholic Church - a heroic model of purity and forgiveness. She was canonized in 1950.

(St. Maria's relics, which usually rest in a church in Italy, will also be on view at St. Maria Goretti Church in Hatfield on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and at St. John the Evangelist Church in Center City on Thursday, Sept. 24, and Friday, Sept. 25. The local stops are part of the Pilgrimage of Mercy, which will take the saint's remains to churches and schools around the United States, beginning in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 21 and ending in Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 11.)

This doesn't mean that St. Rita, the 15th-century Italian widow and nun honored by the shrine, is getting short shrift. Another of the special programs scheduled for the shrine during the World Meeting is a presentation on the saint's life by the Rev. Michael DiGregorio, head of the Augustinian religious order on the East Coast, which staffs the shrine.

St. Rita (1381-1457), whose husband was killed in a feud with another family, became known as a peacemaker for reconciling the warring clans. Her example of "peacemaking and reconciliation" is especially relevant in "a very violent world," said the Rev. Joseph A. Genito, the Augustinian priest who serves as director of the shrine and pastor of St. Rita of Cascia Church at 1166 S. Broad St.

A replica of the habit worn by St. Rita is on display in the Lower Shrine, a gift of the Sisters of Cascia in Italy.

Special events at the shrine will include a concert at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, by the chamber choir Philharmonia, Father Genito said. The program will offer "sacred poetry and music interwoven with . . . Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli," according to the shrine website. There is no admission charge, but freewill offerings will be accepted.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, the shrine will host a program from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. called "Enthronement of the Sacred Heart," which aims, according to its organizers' website, "to renew societies by centering families on the love of God incarnated in the Heart of Christ."

Shuttle buses will be available to take participants in the World Meeting of Families from the Pennsylvania Convention Center to the shrine, Genito said. The shrine will be open for expanded hours, 7 a.m. - 8 p.m., from Sept. 20 through Sept. 27. There will be an additional Mass at 5:30 each day from Sept. 20 through Sept. 25.