ST. RITA 180 tbe cessation of the plagues. Oregory now publicly instructed the people and prepared them for baptism. He then told them of a vision he had seen of Christ appearing from heaven and of three pedestals, each surmounted by a cross of light. Whereupon they built three churches, one at the spot where St. Eipsima was murdered, one on the site of the martyrdom of Gaiana, and the third on that where the thirty-three nuns were massacred. The place was called Etchmiadzin, the descent of the Only Begotten ; the Turkish name of the place is Utch-Kilise, the three churches ; on that spot was Gregory's cathedral church when he was made first patriarch of Armenia. Thus Armenia became the first Christian nation, several years before the Eoman empire adopted the true faith. B.M. Neale, Holy Eastern Church. Kev. L. Davidson, "St. Gregory the Illuminator," in Smith and Wace, Diet, of Christian Biography, St Risparia, Eipabia. St. Ristha, Nov. 1, M. at Terracina, end of 1st century, with seven other women and seven men. AA.SS. St. Rita or EiTTA, May 22, of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, + 1443 or 1456. Patron of the town of Cascia, and against small-pox, on account of a wound in her forehead. Eepresented holding roses and figs, sometimes holding three crowns and a palm, but this is supposed to be a mistake. She was bom at Eocca-Porena, in the diocese of Spoleto. Her parents were a very pious old couple, given to good works and distinguished particularly by the spirit of concord, so that they were called the peace-makers of Jesus Christ. They had lived to a great age without children, when God rewarded their vir- tues by the gift of a daughter, who was to be famous throughout the world for her sanctity and miracles. An angel appeared to the good old woman and bade her be of good courage for her daughter would be acceptable to Gk>d« She was delivered without pain, and while they doubted what name they should give the child, they were in- structed in a vision to call her Eita, which is a contraction of Margaret, and accordingly she was baptized by that name. As she lay in her cradle, swarms of white bees were seen to go in and out of her mouth. She was brought up very carefully and married young to a man who proved to be extremely cruel and ill-tempered; but Eita influenced him so well that his disposition change^ and he became kind and gentle. They lived for twenty years without quarrel- ling, to the admiration o£ all their neigh- bours. Although so gentle to his w^e, his temper made him some enemies, by whom he was murdered. She was not more afflicted by his death than by the intention of her twin sons to take ven- geance on his murderers. As she could not induce them to give up the project, she prayed that God would take their lives rather than suffer them to stain their hands with blood. Her prayer was answered: they died, and their death was accepted by God as a sacrifice from Eita. Being now free from all domestic ties, she applied for admission to the Augustinian convent of St. Mary Magdalene at Cascia. The abbess re- fused to receive her, but after three refusals, Eita was miraculously conveyed into the convent in the night, by St. John the Baptist, St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and St. Augustine. The nuns convinced that this interference was from heaven, gladly welcomed the new sister, and from this time her life was marked by wonderful devotion and mortification; her prayers were efficacious for healing the sick and procuring other graces and blessings. Once as she was praying before a crucifix, she entreated that she might feel the pain of one of the thorns that pierced the head of Christ. Her prayer was granted. The thorn pierced her forehead, and left a deep wound and a horrible sore for the rest of her life; it was only healed for a short time, to enable her to go to Eome in the jubilee year. As several nuns of her convent were going, she besought the abbess to allow her to go with them. She answered that she could not let Eita go until that sore was healed. She put on some ointment
