SAINT ROSE OF LIMA (1586-1617) 23 August 2013 More than four hundred years ago, on April 20th, 1586, a baby girl was born to a family of De Flores, in Lima, Peru, South America. She was baptized as Isabel, but her parents called her Rose because she was so beautiful. She was not only the most beautiful in the whole of Lima, she was also very special, for she did very special things even when she was a girl. At the age of 3, she would kneel beside her mother and say her morning prayers. The next year, 4-year-old Rose walked alone to a nearby Church every morning to attend Mass. Since she knew more than her catechism teacher about Jesus and the Holy Eucharist, the parish priest gave her First Holy Communion when she was just 5 years old. By the age of 6, she would gather her friends and lead the Rosary at the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the Parish Church. And when she was 7 years old, Rose made a vow of perpetual virginity. Once when a nobleman praised her beauty and compared her to an angel in heaven, she decided to disfigure her face. She put hot pepper on her cheeks, but it had no effect on her skin. Her confessor then forbade her to do anything like that again. When her father could not hire workers for the field, Rose went to help her father. She worked in the field like an able bodied man. Her father wondered how she could do all that work. At the age of 10, Rose made a small hut in the garden of her home. This was to free herself from the many visitors who came daily to praise her beauty. By the time Rose was 12 years old, young men came with marriage proposals for Rose. To avoid these young men, Rose moved into her hut in the garden. She prayed the whole day and slept at night on the floor of pebbles and broken tiles in her hut. She had only one meal a day, eating only vegetables. Her confessor asked why she did these penances, and Rose replied that she was doing it in reparation for the sins committed in the city of Lima. One day her father said to Rose: “My child you are 18 years old. Your Mother thinks that you should marry some young man and settle down in life. What is your opinion?” Young Rose replied, “Papa I must tell you that I made a vow of perpetual virginity some time ago. Hence I cannot marry anyone. Will you respect my resolution?” And that was the last time that “marriage” was mentioned in the family. After that, Rose began to have mystical experiences. Rose knew that her beloved city would be attacked by the Dutch. She spent her days in front of the Blessed Sacrament praying for her city. Finally the Dutch came to the harbour of Lima, Rose was there waiting for them. They left without firing a single shot. In 1606, Rose became a Dominican tertiary and was known to have great devotion to Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). Rose often trembled as she pondered over the Passion of Our Lord, and could not imagine how He endured so much pain. One day, our loving Lord placed a crown of thorns on Rose’s head. The pain was so severe that she said: “Lord, it pains.” Jesus answered, “My child, it pained Me more.” The last three years of her life was a continuous period of suffering for Jesus. During these years, she ate nothing, and lived solely on Holy Communion, which she reverently received everyday. A kind neighbour seeing Rose suffer in her hut, brought the young saint into her house. Rose lived with this family for three years. No one was allowed to come into this house and disturb her. She died on August 23, 1617, at the age of 31, and less than 60 years later, she was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 05:31:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015