Saint of the day August 23: Saint Rose of Lima. Catholic Saints

Every August 23, the Catholic Church universally celebrates Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), patron saint of America and the Philippines.

In Peru, his native country, the day designated to celebrate it is August 30 – that is, a week later – and its celebration has the status of a liturgical festival – a day of obligation or observance -, being that it is a civil and religious holiday.

Saint Rose, the first saint of America, encourages us to find Jesus in our brother and to seek him in time and out of time, through prayer. She used to say, “When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus.” Let’s serve the brother who is in need!

The most beautiful rose in the garden

Isabel Flores de Oliva, Santa Rosa, was born in Lima (Peru) on April 20, 1586 and was baptized on May 25 of that same year. Although her name was Isabel – named in honor of her maternal grandmother – an Indian woman who served in the Flores de Oliva home began to affectionately call her ‘Rosa’, due to the beauty with which her hair was colored. her cheeks. With the passage of time, this affectionate way of calling the girl was acquired by her parents and her family environment.

Rosa received a careful education – with a special emphasis on spiritual formation -, thanks to which she learned of the figure and legacy of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), whom she would admire throughout her life.

At the age of eleven ‘Rosita’ moved with her family to Quives, a town located in the mountains of Lima, as a result of her father’s failure in the exploitation of a mine, which left the family in serious economic problems. Certainly, they were difficult times for the Flores de Oliva, but also abundant blessings.

One of these took place in 1597. Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, then archbishop of Lima, on a pastoral visit to Quives, administered the sacrament of Confirmation to Isabel. Her meeting with the saint was very significant. It was Santo Toribio who would ‘officially’ change his name: according to custom, the confirmand could request and receive a new name; Isabel wasted no time and asked for ‘Rosa’.

Crucified with Christ

When she turned 20, Rosa returned to Lima, capital of the viceroyalty of Peru. The young woman began to work in the garden of her family home, where she spent a good part of the day and during the night she sewed clothes for the wealthy families of the city. With that she made money to help support the home. However, despite the situation, Rosa was a very happy young woman and it was not by chance: by that time, the saint was already dedicating entire hours to prayer and the practice of penance. That is the source of her joy.

As her love for the Crucified became more intense, she felt inspired to greater dedication to God. The idea of ​​taking a vow of virginity began to hover in her soul.

Rosa found herself called to make an effort to attend Mass frequently and thus receive Holy Communion. With a certain naturalness, her soul was opening to new spiritual dimensions such as mysticism and contemplation. Almost without realizing it, she was becoming a sign of contradiction for a city – Lima – sedated in its Christian identity, if not simply a prey to frivolity.

crown of thorns

On one occasion, Rosa’s mother made a flower crown and put it on her head so she could wear it at a social event. Rosa didn’t feel comfortable at all and she pressed one of the branches of the wreath, digging one of the hairpins into it. A brief trickle of blood and the stinging pain had turned into penitence.

Suddenly, Rosa learned that life’s circumstances can be used to unite with the suffering Christ. When a woman complimented the softness of her hands and the fineness of her fingers, the young woman covered them, as soon as she could, with mud.

These types of reactions, difficult to understand today, responded to a very different logic than the one that governs the present: Rosa was very aware of how difficult it is to master self-love and vanity, as well as preserve the heart exclusively for her ‘husband’. , the Lord Jesus. That is why she carried out intense fasts and spent sleepless nights praying for sinners, especially for those who had closed themselves off from God.

For the love of souls in need

Rosa subjected herself to physical rigor and different types of mortification, always with the desire to keep distractions away from her, offering what she did for those most in need.

Although her parents tried to marry her, she refused and defended her particular vocation. Thus, on August 10, 1606, Rosa entered the Order of Saint Dominic as a Tertiary, following in the footsteps of Saint Catherine of Siena, her “spiritual teacher”; and, at the suggestion of a Dominican priest, she accepted to be called ‘Rose of Saint Mary’.

Charity, mystique and friendship

With the help of her brother Hernando, Rosa built a hermitage in a corner of the garden of her house; There she prayed and was mortified. In solitude, from Thursday to Saturday, she began to have mystical experiences: the first of them was learning about the sufferings of the Lord during the Passion.

It is true that Rosa spent much of her time secluded in her hermitage, but it is no less true that she took time to go to the church of the Virgin of the Rosary, or to care for the abandoned sick or mistreated slaves. In the midst of these tasks she met San Martín de Porres, with whom she shared the desire to assist those who, due to her suffering, were other Christs, mocked and wounded. Both saints would become good friends, as befits those who are companions in the exercise of charity.

Rosa’s soul was burning with love for God and her brothers. She tells how her tone of voice changed and her face lit up when she spoke about Him, Jesus; the same as her when she placed herself in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, or when she received the Eucharist. Of course, none of this exempted her from the misunderstandings, the ridicule of many, or even some false accusations or rumors.

Whatever the case, due to the strength of her testimony, the people of Lima began to recognize her, love her and see in her a light that radiates holiness.

Protector of Lima

In 1615, a group of pirates wanted to attack the city of Lima. These were men attracted by legends about their treasures and riches. With their ships anchored in front of Callao, Santa Rosa and other women went to the church of the Virgin of the Rosary to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and ask God to free the capital from looting.

The saint stayed in front of the tabernacle with the intention of protecting it. Rosa was not willing to allow anyone to get close to him with the intention of desecrating him. If the city fell into the hands of the enemy, she would give up her life.

A couple of days later, news spread that the captain of the pirate vessel had died, and that his ship had withdrawn. The people of Lima, then, no longer had doubts about Rosa: this had been a miracle and she was her intercessor.

Recent years

In the last years of her life, the saint’s health declined greatly and she had to be welcomed into the home of a family of very pious husbands, Don Gonzalo de la Maza and Doña María Uzategui. The couple considered her their daughter and watched over her for almost three years, until the day she died.

Despite her weak health, Rosa prayed like this: “Lord, increase my sufferings, but increase your love to me in the same measure.”

Benedict XVI recalled in August 2008 that Saint Rose used to repeat: “If men knew what it meant to live in grace, they would not be afraid of any suffering and would gladly endure any pain, because grace is the fruit of patience.”

mystical marriage

In 1617, on Palm Sunday, their “mystical marriage” took place. While he prayed in front of the Virgin of the Rosary, the Child Jesus told him: “Rose of my Heart, I love you as my wife.” She replied: “Lord, here is your useless slave; I am yours and I will be yours forever.”

Today, in the Church of Santo Domingo, in the center of Lima, the tile on which the saint was standing when her marriage took place is preserved.

Holy, Holy!

Saint Rose of Lima died on August 24, 1617 at the age of 31. The funerals mobilized the entire city. Among the attendees were high ecclesiastical and political authorities and the Viceroy of Spain. But not only them, there were the people who were fighting to enter the house of the de la Maza shouting “holy, holy!”

Many people approached the coffin in which Rosa’s body lay to tear off a piece of her habit and preserve it as a relic. Others had to be dispersed by the Viceroy’s guard because they went so far as to tear off a toe.

Saint Rose was initially buried in the cloister of the Dominican Convent, but her body was later transferred to the chapel of Saint Catherine of Siena in the Church of the Rosary. Her skull is today found in the church of Santo Domingo -located a few steps from the Plaza Mayor of Lima- next to the skulls of San Martín de Porres and San Juan Macías.

The prominent place of women in the Church

Rosa de Santa María was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, becoming the first saint of America. The same Pontiff declared her the main patron saint of the New World (America), the Philippines and the West Indies.

More than thirty years ago, Pope Saint John Paul II said of Rosa: “First saint of America, Rosa de Lima, with her simple and austere life, her sweet character, her ardent words and her apostolate among the poor, the Indians and the sick, she was also a fearless evangelizer, eloquent testimony of the decisive role that women have had and continue to have in the proclamation of the Gospel (Ángelus, September 6, 1992).

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If you want to know more about the life of Saint Rose of Lima, we recommend this article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Santa_Rosa_de_Lima.

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