Barcelona marked the annual Santa Rita festival on 22 May, with residents and visitors bringing roses for blessing at sites including Sant Agustí parish in the Raval district.
The celebration honours Saint Rita of Cascia, an Italian nun who died on this day and is regarded in Catholic tradition as the patron saint of impossible causes and rose sellers. According to betevé, her life, marked by personal and family difficulties, has made her a symbol of hope for people facing hard situations.
The blessing of roses is linked to a legend from the saint's final days. Tradition says Saint Rita asked for a rose in winter, and its appearance despite the cold was seen as a miracle. Since then, the faithful have brought roses to churches and places associated with the saint for blessing every 22 May.
At Sant Agustí parish, the square outside filled early with stalls selling roses and candles. Worshippers bought them before entering the temple, where the flowers were blessed and offered with prayers for health and good wishes. Queues formed to enter, and the altar was decorated with many roses.
Casa Vicens, one of Gaudí's early works, also took part in the celebrations. Roses were blessed in the courtyard, and many locals and tourists queued to enter in small groups. The solidarity roses sold at the entrance had sold out by mid-morning, and red roses decorated the courtyard fountain.
Emili Masferrer, director of Casa Vicens, said it is an increasingly established festival in the neighbourhood and the city, with more people coming each year to bless roses and, as he put it, also see the house. The link between Casa Vicens and Santa Rita dates back to the 18th century, when the land housed a convalescent home for Discalced Carmelites. According to tradition, patients recovered quickly after drinking from the fountain, leading the friars to consecrate the site to the patron saint of impossible causes.
