23rd August
St. Rose of Lima, the first person born in the Western Hemisphere to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. She is the patron saint of Peru and all of South America as well as of embroiderers, gardeners, and florists.
Born into a noble family, Rosa (the name by which she was always known) was drawn to penitential practices and a spiritual life at a young age. Her mother wanted her to marry and initially refused to allow her daughter to pursue religious life. To deter suitors, the beautiful Rosa cut off her hair and blistered her skin with hot peppers. The struggle between them lasted 10 years, during which time Rosa made a perpetual vow of virginity, taking St. Catherine of Siena as her model. In 1606 her mother relented and allowed Rosa to become a Dominican of the third order, though her parents did not permit her to live in a convent. Instead, Rosa chose strict enclosure and contemplation and withdrew to the seclusion of a hut in the family garden, where she endured a life of severe austerity and asceticism. She regularly wore a crown of thorns, practiced fasting, slept only a few hours at night on a bed of potsherds, self-flagellated, and experienced numerous visions, particularly of the Devil. Though she was largely a recluse, Rosa was devoted to the sick and hungry in her community and often brought them to her hut to care for them. She was skilled in needlework and sold her fine lace and embroidery and the flowers that she grew in her garden to help her family and to raise funds for the poor. Her funeral was an occasion of public honour, and many miracles were said to have occurred after her death.
- She Grew Her Piety
St. Rose of Lima was born Isabel de Flores y del Olivia in 1586 to Spanish colonial parents. She was nicknamed “Rose” by a servant who had a vision of her face turning into a mystical rose. She was a beautiful child, and the name caught on. Isabel therefore took “Rose” as her confirmation name when St. Turibius de Mogrobejo confirmed her.
Rose was a devout child. She incorporated daily prayer and Communion into her life. She also became intensely interested in the life of St. Catherine of Siena, and took her as a special patron. She had a special love for Dominican spirituality, and Our Lady of the Rosary. All of these practices—daily prayer, frequent Communion, spiritual reading, and love for Our Lady—are things we can all practice today, and are actually what many of the saints recommend. (The fact that she received permission from her confessor to take a vow of perpetual virginity at the age of five might be harder to imitate.)
After a bad investment, Rose’s family became quite poor. She worked obediently to help their survival, growing flowers to sell during the day, and working on fine embroidery and lace making by night. She still found time for her prayer and Mass attendance in the midst of these personal upheavals.
- Her Acceptance of God’s Will
When Rose initially rejected her parents’ desire for her to marry, she intended to become a nun. She faced intense persecution from her family and friends because of this. When her parents finally resigned themselves to her choice, she applied to enter the monastery at Santa Clara. Her brother accompanied her on her way to settle in the monastery. On the way, she stopped in a Church and began to pray in front of Our Lady of the Rosary. She began to pray, and felt herself become as heavy as lead. Neither her brother nor the sacristan could lift her. It wasn’t until she promised not to enter the monastery that she was able to move again.
Rose became consecrated to Jesus through the Third Order of St. Dominic, like her patroness, St. Catherine of Siena. Her brother built her a small shack in the family’s yard. She moved into it to live a life of penance and prayer. Her mystical life came to full fruition, and she became mystically espoused to Jesus, again like St. Catherine of Siena. Jesus Himself said to her, “Rose of my heart be my spouse.”
- Dialogues with Jesus
She had frequent dialogues with our Lord. She also suffered terribly. At first, she pushed the sufferings on herself to better understand the agonies our Lord went through. Over time, though, the agonies became spiritual, as she entered a fifteen-year dark night of the soul.
Jesus comforted her during this time by saying:
“Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation … that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace … that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray or to be deceived. This is the only true ladder to paradise, and without the cross, there is no other way in which to ascend to heaven.”