Rose of Lima Saint Rose of Lima, T.O.S.D. (April 20, 1586 – August 24, 1617), was a Spanish colonist in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe asceticism and her care of the needy of the city through her own private efforts. A lay member of the Dominican Order, she was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized by the Catholic Church. As a saint, Rose of Lima is designated as a co-patroness of the Philippines along with Saint Pudentiana, who were both moved as second-class patronage in September 1942 by Pope Pius XII, but remains the primary patroness of Peru and the indigenous natives of Latin America. 1 Biography She was born Isabel Flores y de Oliva in the city of Lima, then in the Viceroyalty of Peru, on April 20, 1586. She was one of the many children of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier in the Imperial Spanish army, born in San Germán on the island of San Juan Bautista (now Puerto Rico), and his wife, María de Oliva, a native of Lima. Her later nickname “Rose” comes from an incident in her babyhood: a servant claimed to have seen her face transform into a rose. In 1597 she was confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, Turibius de Mongrovejo, who was also to be declared a saint. She formally took the name of Rose at that time.[1] Stained glass window by Harry Clarke, depicting St. Rose burn- As a young girl—in emulation of the noted Dominican ing her hands in an act of penance, in St. Michael’s Church, tertiary, St. Catherine of Siena—she began to fast three Ballinasloe, Ireland times a week and performed severe penances in secret. When she was admired for her beauty, Rose cut off her hair and smeared pepper on her face, upset that suitors she prayed and did penance in a little grotto which she [2] had built. Otherwise, she became a recluse, leaving her were beginning to take notice of her. She rejected all [2] suitors against the objections of her friends and her fam- room only for her visits to church. ily. Despite the censure of her parents, she spent many She attracted the attention of the friars of the Dominican hours contemplating the Blessed Sacrament, which she Order. She wanted to become a nun, but her father for- received daily, an extremely rare practice in that period. bade it, so she instead entered the Third Order of St. Do- She was determined to take a vow of virginity, which was minic while living in her parents’ home. In her twentieth opposed by her parents, who wished her to marry.[1] Fi- year she donned the habit of a tertiary and took a vow of nally, out of frustration, her father gave her a room to perpetual virginity. She donned a heavy crown made of herself in the family home. silver, with small spikes on the inside, in emulation of the [2] After daily fasting, she took to permanently abstain from Crown of Thorns worn by Christ. eating meat. She helped the sick and hungry around her For eleven years she lived this way, with intervals of ec- community, bringing them to her room and taking care stasy, and died on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31. It of them. Rose sold her fine needlework, and took flowers is said that she prophesied the date of her death. Her fu- that she grew to market, to help her family. She made neral was held in the cathedral, attended by all the public and sold lace and embroidery to care for the poor, and authorities of Lima. 1 2 5 FURTHER READING 2 Veneration on the island.[6] The second oldest parish in the Diocese of Port-of-Spain is also named after this saint. The Santa Rosa Church, which is located in the town of Arima, was established on April 20, 1786, as the Indian Mission of Santa Rosa de Arima on the foundations of a Capuchin Mission previously established in 1749.[7] St. Rose’s skull, surmounted with a crown of roses, is on public display in the basilica in Lima, Peru, along with that of St. Martin de Porres. It was customary to keep the torso in the basilica and pass the head around the country. 2.1 Patronage Saint Rose is the patroness of the Americas,[1] indigenous Monastery of Saint Rose in 17th-century Lima people of the Americas especially of Lima, Peru; the secondary patroness of the Philippines along with Saint Rose was beatified by Pope Clement IX on May 10, 1667, Pudentiana; of gardeners; of florists; of Sittard, the and canonized on April 12, 1671, by Pope Clement X, the Netherlands; of India. first Catholic in the Americas to be declared a saint. Her shrine, alongside those of her friends, St. Martin de Por- res and Saint John Macías, is located inside the convent of 3 Legacy St. Dominic in Lima. The Roman Catholic Church says that many miracles followed her death; there were stories Parishes dedicated to St. Rose of Lima are lo- that she had cured a leper. Many places in the New World cated in Brooklyn, NY, Safford, Arizona; Paso Rob- are named Santa Rosa after her. Pope Emeritus Benedict les, California;[8] Santa Rosa, California;[9] Buena Vista, XVI is especially devoted to her. Colorado;[10] Newtown, Connecticut;[11] Milton, Florida; [12] [13] Her liturgical feast was inserted into the General Roman Montrose, Illinois; Quincy, Illinois; Cloverport, [14] [15] Calendar in 1729 for celebration initially on August 30, Kentucky; Jay, Maine; Gaithersburg, Maryland; [16] because August 24, the date of her death, is the feast of Chelsea, Massachusetts; Chicopee, Massachusetts; [17] Saint Bartholomew the Apostle and August 30 was the Northborough, Massachusetts; Hastings, Michigan; [18] [19] closest date not already allocated to a well-known saint.[3] Roseville, Minnesota; De Soto, Missouri; Free- [20] Pope Paul VI's 1969 revision of the calendar made Au- hold, New Jersey; Forestville, New York; Rock- [21] gust 23 available, the day on which her feast day is now away Beach, New York; Massapequa, New York; [22] [23] celebrated throughout the world, including Spain, but ex- Perrysburg, Ohio; Lima, Ohio; Murfreesboro, [24] [25] [26] cluding Peru and some other Latin American countries, Tennessee; Andice, Texas; Houston, Texas; [27] where August 30 is a public holiday in her honor. San Antonio, Texas; Rosedale, Victoria, Australia; Cochin, India; and Sittard, the Netherlands. She is honored together with Martin de Porres and Turibius of Mogrovejo with a feast day on the liturgical Maywood, California is known as the Largest Parish Ded- calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on August 23. icated to Santa Rosa. Early lives of Santa Rosa were written by the Do- On the last weekend in August the Fiesta de Santa Rosa minican Father Hansen, “Vita Sanctae Rosae” (2 vols., is celebrated in Dixon, New Mexico. Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward. Pope Benedict XIII wrote “Concentus Dominicano, Bonon- iensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi 4 See also et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum” (Venice, 1674). • List of Catholic saints There is a park named for her in downtown Sacramento, • Manuscript of the Life of St. Rose of Lima California.[4] A plot of land at 7th and K streets was given to the Roman Catholic Church by Peter Burnett, first Governor of the State of California. Father Peter Ander- 5 Further reading son built one of the first of two churches in the diocese to [5] be consecrated under the patronage of St Rose. • Teodoro Hampe Martínez. “Santa Rosa de Lima In the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and To- y la identidad criolla en el Perú colonial” (essay of bago, the Santa Rosa Carib Community, located in interpretation), Revista de Historia de América, No. Arima, is the largest organization of indigenous peoples 121 (January – December, 1996), pp. 7–26 3 6 References [1] Aymé, Edward. “St. Rose of Lima.” The Catholic En- cyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Com- pany, 1912. 21 Jun. 2013 [2] AmericanCatholic.org “St. Rose of Lima” [3] Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 101 [4] Downtown Sacramento Partnership site: St Rose of Lima Park [5] The History of the Sacramento Diocese, second paragraph [6] Santa Rosa Carib Community [7] Santa Rosa R. C. Church, Arima, Trinidad, West Indies [8] St. Rose of Lima Church in Paso Robles [9] [10] St. Rose of Lima Parish, Buena Vista, Colorado [11] St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Newtown, Connecticut [12] Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, St. Rose of Lima [13] Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church [14] St. Rose of Lima, Jay, Maine [15] St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Gaithersburg, Mary- land [16] St. Rose de Lima, Chicopee, Massachusetts [17] St. Rose of Lima, Northborough, Massachusetts [18] St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Roseville, Minnesota [19] St. Rose of Lima, De Soto, Missouri [20] [21] St. Rose of Lima Parish, Massapequa, New York [22] St. Rose Parish, Perrysburg, Ohio [23] St. Rose & St. John Catholic Parishes [24] St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Parish Murfreesboro, Tennessee [25] Santa Rosa de Lima Church, Andice, Texas [26] St. Rose of Lima Catholic Community, Houston, Texas [27] St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas 4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 7.1 Text • Rose of Lima Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_of_Lima?oldid=628970262 Contributors: Camembert, Michael Hardy, Angela, Rossami, JamesReyes, Tom Peters, Rbraunwa, Wetman, Owen, AlexPlank, Pfortuny, Academic Challenger, JackofOz, Varlaam, Andy- cjp, PFHLai, Necrothesp, D6, Rich Farmbrough, Carptrash, ESkog, CanisRufus, Lima, Orlady, Bobo192, Man vyi, Darwinek, Polylerus, Caeruleancentaur, Hektor, Arthena, Snowolf, Melaen, Velella, Danntm, Mattbrundage, Spartacus007, FeanorStar7, TigerShark, Pol098, Sandylouise, Hailey C.