One cannot help but continually reflect on the story of St. Rita of Cascia and her miraculous rose flower, an event that is indeed an amazing testimony of her holiness and God’s love for her. The miracle of the rose flower from her family garden and the story of the entire life of St. Rita is breathtaking and certainly evokes some life changing inspirations.
Flowers generally, and rose flower in particular undeniably create some kind of aesthetic pleasures, especially for lovers of flowers. But it doesn’t really matter if you love flowers or not, the message from the rose flower is for every heart.
You may have your own description of a rose flower, may be from the Latin origin of its name to its different colours and how it grows. Your description will be so incomplete if you leave out its beautiful smell and its aesthetic power, as well as the thorns or pricks that surrounds it. The thorns or the pricks; that is where the message lies.
The human life is like the rose flower, so beautifully made. If the rose flower is carefully handled, you see only its beauty and smells its amazing perfume. But when it’s roughly handled, you feel the pains of the pricks or thorns that surrounds it. That is how life is like; it is so amazing when handled with care even though it is mostly surrounded by thorns. Just as the thorns contributes to the beauty of the rose flower, so also the thorns of life contributes to the beauty of life, it depends on how you handle it.
The Augustinians and the entire Church cannot stop celebrating the life of St. Rita of Cascia, a poor nun whose life became a fragrance in the Church, yet was surrounded by thorns. She never let herself be choked by the thorns that surrounded her, but beautify her life with them.
As pilgrims on earth, there will be thorns on the way. Do not be choked, but turn them into beauty and beautify yourself with them.
May St. Rita of Cascia pray for us.