Saint Rose of Lima
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| Saint Rose of Lima | |
|---|---|
| First Saint from the Americas | |
| Born | April 20, 1586 |
| Died | August 24, 1617 |
| Feast | August 23 |
| Attributes | rose, anchor, Infant Jesus |
| Patronage | embroiderers; gardeners; India; Latin America; people ridiculed for their piety; Peru; Philippines; Santa Rosa, California; vanity; |
Saint Rose of Lima, (20 April, 1586 - 30 August, 1617), the first Catholic saint of The Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.
Biography
St. Rose of Lima was born the 20th of April 1586 in the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. She received from baptisim the name of Isabel Flores de Oliva. She was one of a large family. Her father, Gasper de Flores, was a soldier and her mother, Maria d'Oliva, had inca viens.At three months old Isabella was in her cradle as her mother and several other women were sitting around it there suddenly appeared in the air a beautiful rose; which gently touched the face of the baby and then vanished; and from that day on Maria called her rose.
St. Rose helped the sick and hungry around her community. She would bring them to her home and take care of them. St. Rose sold her fine needle work, and also grew beautiful flowers and would take them to market to help her family.
Rose began to tell of visions, revelations, visitations and voices as they deplored her penitential practices more than ever.) She took the name of Rose at her confirmation in 1597. She received Holy Communion daily, and was conferred the habit of the third order (i.e. for women) of St. Dominic at the age of 20, donned the habit, and took a vow of perpetual virginity. As a child she was possessed with a deep veneration for every aspect of religion, and spent hours with her attention fixed upon the image of the Madonna and Child. She gave her entire life to prayer and the most extreme self-mortification. The Catholic Encyclopedia observed, "She was scrupulously obedient and of untiring industry, making rapid progress by earnest attention to her parents' instruction, to her studies, and to her domestic work, especially with her needle."
In emulation of St. Catherine she fasted three times a week with secret severe penances, and when she was admired, cut off her hair against the objections of her friends and her family, and the censure of her parents, then disfigured her face with oil of vitriol.
Many hours were spent contemplating the Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily. She determined to take a vow of virginity in opposition to her parents, who wished her to marry. Her Vita emphasizes "her excruciating agony of mind and desolation of spirit, urging her to more frequent mortifications."
Daily fasting turned to perpetual abstinence from meat. Her days were filled with acts of charity and industry, her exquisite lace and embroidery helping to support her home, while her nights were devoted to prayer and penance in a little grotto which she had built in which she became a recluse,leaving it only for her visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
In her twentieth year she had so attracted the attention of the Dominican order that she was permitted to enter a Dominican convent in 1602 without payment of the usual dowry. "Thereafter she redoubled the severity and variety of her penances to a heroic degree, wearing constantly a metal spiked crown, concealed by roses, and an iron chain about her waist. Days passed without food, save a draught of gall mixed with bitter herbs. When she could no longer stand, she sought repose on a bed constructed by herself, of broken glass, stone, potsherds, and thorns. She admitted that the thought of lying down on it made her tremble with dread."
Fourteen years this self-martyrdom continued without relaxation, with intervals of ecstasy (CE) till she died august 25 1617 at the age of 31. Her funeral was attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and the archbishop pronounced her eulogy in the cathedral, August 26, 1617.
Veneration
She was beatified by Pope Clement IX in 1667, and canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X as the first person in the western hemisphere to be canonized by the Roman Church. Her shrine is at Lima, Peru. The Catholic Church says that many miracles followed her death. All the places named Santa Rosa in the New World pay homage to this saint. Pope Benedict XVI has a special devotion for this Saint. Her liturgical feast was celebrated initially on 30 August, but is currently on 23 August.She is and is the patroness of Peru, The Americas and the Philippines, and the city of Sittard. Saint Rose of Lima's Day on August 30 is a public holiday in Peru.
Early Lives of Santa Rosa were written by the Dominican Father Hansen, Vita Sanctae Rosae (2 vols., Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward Pope Benedict XIII wrote Concentus Dominicano, Bononiensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum, (Venice, 1674).
She is depicted wearing a metal-spiked crown, concealed by roses, and an iron chain around her waist. [link]
Sources and External links
- [Catholic Encyclopedia] Saint Rose of Lima
- [Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography]
- http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=446
- http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintr04.htm
- redirect
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