Creating a sanctuary

What is a sanctuary?

A sanctuary is a sacred space where the passage of time becomes a consecrated pause.

We come as visitors or pilgrims. You may be moved by simple curiosity, seized by the beauty of the place or transported by a spiritual impulse or the attraction of a God to be discovered. You may come alone, in a group or with your family. We may be regulars at prayer, or feel a punctual need that’s beyond us. We feel a “movement”, a “motion” whose origin lies in the immeasurable, beyond ourselves, which comes from and refers to a divinity that never ceases to humanize us: it’s Christ who becomes incarnate as He lowers Himself to lift us up! Whatever the motivation, a sanctuary is a place that transcends time.

Why do we turn a place of worship into a sanctuary?

This place of sanctuary is marked by a spiritual experience: the powerful compassion and intercession of Rita, this woman of the impossible.
She is our confidante, aware of our strengths but also our weaknesses, the setbacks in our lives, the dead ends, our thirst for life. With others, we form a multitude, a veritable tradition of pilgrims. In a sanctuary, we cross the threshold into our inner space. As the name suggests, a sanctuary is a space for beauty, for silence, for the sacred. So, for many people, it’s the place to encounter God in prayer, listening to his Word and celebrating the sacraments. The sanctuary enables us to reach that space within ourselves where the Risen Christ is imperceptibly present.
The person who comes to a sanctuary can experience a time out, a time of pause. It’s a space to regain a foothold in life by rediscovering the spiritual space that lies within each of us. The sanctuary offers boldness to all. It’s good to dare to meet God, to experience a moment of truth with ourselves. To come to a shrine is to take the risk of entering with a sense of purpose, and to experience a stage in one’s life, touched by the God of Jesus Christ: He has been waiting patiently to tell us once again that He is there, here and everywhere, to walk with us. A shrine allows us to share in the experience of encountering the Risen Christ that so many others have had before us. A shrine is a springboard in life, a turning point on the itinerary of seekers of meaning and seekers of God.

The Chapel becomes a sanctuary, the Crypt a sacred place.

On June ¹, 2020, Mgr ROUGE signed a pastoral letter in which he indicated the creation of five sanctuaries, including the Chapelle Sainte-Rita. We’d like to thank him once again for the thoughtfulness of his pastorate in including us among those places of the Church which, for one reason or another, have a special significance.

Since its very beginnings, Chapelle Ste-Rita has seen a steady flow of faithful from many different parishes – nearly 60 – and social backgrounds, from strong Christian backgrounds to those weakened by life’s vicissitudes. Our Oblate community, present in this chapel since its foundation (1991), seeks to ensure a presence that meets the specific expectations of all:

a place to grow in a deeper knowledge of Christ ;
a place to confide in and be advised, according to each individual’s experience and the Church’s tradition of spiritual guidance;
a place to celebrate one’s faith, inwardly and with shared joy ;
a place of healing and deliverance;
a place that supports parish participation and commitment.

We could almost say that we already had a certain “sanctuary” dynamic, but we felt, through this pastoral letter from our bishop, not only a recognition, but also and above all an urgent call to give ourselves more to this task of accompanying people according to our own charism, that of the “Spiritual Exercises”, willed by our founder, the venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri, and the inspiration given by our patroness, St. Rita, a woman of “sorrow” but also of great hope.

Support your sanctuary

Your support helps us to continue the various activities of this place of sanctuary.

Contribution to the Mass

Ask the Sanctuary of Saint Rita for a mass for your intentions, commemorating the Eucharist and the presence of Christ.

Lighting a candle

Candles burn ceaselessly, symbolizing our prayers and thanksgiving for our lives to become light.

Prayer intention

Saint Rita, patron saint of lost causes, welcomes your intentions and thanks, and may fraternal charity strengthen our prayer.