Article – The Patroness of Baseball

Happy Feast of St. Rita! We are very blessed to have the St. Rita Sodality and devotion to this great saint as part of our tradition at Holy Rosary Shrine. St. Rita has the official title of the Paton Saint of Impossible Causes, but she also has the unofficial title of Patroness of Baseball.

How did a woman who lived in the 15th century become associated with a game that began in the 19th century?

In the 1920’s some nuns and women in New York invested money in an oil well in Texas. It seemed like a safe investment but the drilling was slow and unsuccessful. The workers set up a baseball diamond next to the oil rig and played during their free time. Meanwhile, a priest suggested to the women that they pray to St. Rita for the success of the venture. He blessed a rose in the saint’s name and the petals were scattered at the drilling site and the well was named St. Rita No. 1.

After hitting sand, the drilling had to be stopped. But five days after St. Rita’s Feast Day in 1923, oil miraculously shot into the sky and sprayed all over the baseball field. The patroness of impossible causes had come through again!

Whatever our particular intentions may be, may this holy mother, widow and consecrated woman help us to imitate her example of heroic love of God and neighbor.

Pax et Bonum.

— Fr. Peter