CHAPEL OF SANTA RITA

 

It has an interesting Baroque altar surmounted by a valuable architectural gable decorated with floral and zoomorphic figures. The steps of the altar are made of tuff and Neapolitan riggiole.

At the center of the altar is the statue of Santa Rita. Wife of a brutal man, with great faith and patience she managed to obtain his conversion. Among so many sacrifices, she was a worker of peace and reconciliation in the name of Christ. Left alone, she devoted herself to the religious life. She is invoked as a rescuer of impossible cases.

On the right wall, a canvas depicting the Ecstasy of Saint Catherine (18th century) , restored in 2010. The saint, doctor of the Church and patroness of Italy, fully embodied the sentiments of Christ, to the point that the Lord placed them his own heart in his breast and mystically made her his bride.

Below, in a niche, you can admire a valuable nativity scene in typical Neapolitan style, the work of Enzo Rotella (21st century). Details and traditional costumes of some Calabrian villages are carefully reproduced.

On the left wall, another painting of "the 'Ecce Homo", which is also the eighteenth century. "Behold the man" is Pilate's exclamation when he shows the crowd Jesus, scourged and crowned with thorns (Jn 19: 5).

Below, in the niche, the papier-mâché statue of Santa Maria Goretti is exhibited . On July 5, 1902, at the age of 12, she gave her life for Christ, preferring martyrdom rather than giving in to the threats of a young man blinded by his passion for her.