Feast - Santa Rosa de Lima

Santa Rosa de Lima, is one of Peru's beloved saints. The other is San Martin de Porres who is also very much loved by Peruvians and non-Peruvians alike.

I found the picture above from my favorite Catholic news site Aciprensa If you click that link you can view a gallery of pictures.

For those of you who can read and understand Spanish, you can visit this page to learn more about the life of Santa Rosa de Lima. For those of you who cannot, I will translate it for you below:

She was born in the capital of Peru in 1586. Her ancestry was Spanish. She was the first saint canonized of the New World. Although the child was baptized with the name Isabel, everyone called her "Rosa" and that was the name given at her Confirmation by Archbishop Saint Toribio.

Rosa took Saint Catherine of Siena as her role model despite the oppositions and mockeries. That is how she decided to practice self-denial through humility, obedience and self-sacrifice.

Saint Rose suffered much because of those who did not understand her. After enrolling in the third order of Saint Dominic, she practically became a recluse in a cabin that had been constructed in the garden.

She wore on her head a thin ribbon made of silver whose interior was made of a crown of thorns.

Her love of the Lord was so great that when she spoke about Him, her tone of voice would change and her face would light up as if to reflect the sentiments of her soul. This phenomenon would manifest especially in the Holy Eucharist and at Holy Communion.

Later on, a commission made up of doctors and priests examined the saint and concluded that these experiences were really supernatural. They agreed that Saint Rosa's lifestyle and the ascetic practices only happened in souls called to a special vocation. The most admirable quality of Saint Rose was her great spirituality of saintly heroism because all the saints whether in the world, the desert or in the cloister, possess the common characteristic of having tried to live for God in every single moment. Those who have the pure intention to comply in all the will of God, will be able to serve with fullness in everything they do.

Saint Rose died on August 24th, 1617 at the age of 31. She was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671.

For a sample of her writings, please visit Beauty of Divine Grace