Saint Rose of Lima:

Feast day : 23 August

Saint Rose of Lima was a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic who lived during the period 1586-1617. Her intense love for God and the life of St. Catherine of Siena inspired her to grow in holiness from an early age. After joining the Dominican Order at 20, she increased the severity of her ascetic practices and is famously known for the Crown of Thorns that she wore beneath her veil. Apart from her mortifications, she was also known for her generosity to the poor and sick. She was blessed with extraordinary gifts and graces that contributed to the conversion of many souls. Following a brief illness, she died at a young age of 31 years. Her holiness and miracles contributed to her canonization by Pope Clement X on 12 April 1671 making her the first saint of the Americas. She is the patron saint of Peru, the Indies, the Philippines and all of America.

Early life:

Saint Rose was born in the city of Lima to Gaspar Flores and Maria de Oliva in the year 1586. She was christened Isabel Flores de Olivia but was affectionately called Rose. At a very young age she began to undertake fasts three times a week and performed several penances in secret. She was favoured with many visions and mystical experiences from a very young age. As she grew up, though she desired to live a religious life, her parents dissuaded her from it as they wanted her to get married. When she realised her beauty was attracting the attention of suitors, she cut off her hair and smeared pepper on her face. She rejected all the proposals that came her way; much to the displeasure of her parents and lived a more reclusive life in prayer.

Vocational life:

At the age of 20 she took her vows of perpetual virginity and joined the Third Order of St. Dominic. She took Saint Catherine of Siena as her patroness and continued to live in her family home where her father gave her a room to live in. Soon she increased her penances and is most famously known for her crown of thorns that she adorned beneath her veil. The heavy crown which resembled the Crown of Thorns of Our Lord Jesus was made in silver with small spikes on the inside that dug into her scalp. Not content with simply wearing the crown, she would adjust its position so that it pressed down on different areas of her scalp. It was her sense of nothingness and humility that made her undergo severe penances. If she were to be praised for her work or honoured in any way she would make extra penances for it. She frequently shut herself up on Thursday in her oratory and remained there till Saturday without food or sleep and was so completely absorbed in God as though in a sort of ecstasy. Except for her visits to the Church she remained confined in her home. However, when her parents were in need of financial support, she sold her fine needlework and sold flowers in the local market to support them. Her simple but severe ascetic life filled with mortification soon became known in her community and she was often the victim of taunts and scorns. But she was happy to endure it as her Lord Jesus faced even greater humiliation on His way to Calvary.

Her mortifications were not the only part of her vocational life. She was famous for her generosity to the poor too. She attended to the sick and needy in her community in an infirmary that she set up in her parents home. There she instructed poor Indian women, children and slaves in the truths of the Faith and won numerous souls to Christ. But her extreme penitential life, conversions gained, visions and ecstasies soon gained the attention of the Church authorities and she was summoned before the Inquisition where eminent theologians wanted to question her. She found it amusing that they would subject her to evaluation for loving God so much. Nevertheless, she appeared before them and answered all their questions satisfactorily. Finally the Grand Inquisitors of the Royal Court of Imperial Spain, all eminent theologians, were unified in their verdict that Rose de Santa Maria not only possessed genuine holiness but also a level of theological knowledge that had to be given to her from none other than Our Lord Jesus Himself.

Death and Canonization:

She lived her vocational life for eleven years and died on August 24, 1617, at the young age of 31 on the same date that she had predicted. Her funeral was held several days later owning to the large crowds of mourners both poor and eminent who displayed great love for her. Legend has it that the whole city of Lima smelled like roses on her death and some saw roses falling from the sky. Her body was buried in the cloister of Saint Dominic’s Church where it was found to be incorrupt and fragrant after 18 months. Later however, the body was found to be decomposed though exhaling a sweet fragrance. Many miracles have been reported through her intercession over the years.

Her remains are now conserved at two locations. In the Dominican Church of Santo Domingo there is a special altar dedicated to the Peruvian Saints on which rest three golden chests containing the skulls of St. Rose, St. Martin de Porres and Blessed John Mathias. The rest of her relics are kept in a small church that was built on the very grounds on which Saint Rose lived. This church was elevated to the status of a Basilica and many objects that the Saint used during her life including a cross from which she is reported to have once received the Precious Blood, a ring that was miraculously inscribed to her and a thorny piece of metal she wore to chastise herself are held in this Basilica. Her feast is celebrated on August 23.