St Rose of Lima
Isabella Flores, commonly known as Rose, was born in Lima, Peru, in 1586, and became the first canonised saint of the Americas, renowned for her life of prayer and penance.
She desired to join the sisters of the Third Order of St Dominic in order to follow more fully the way of evangelical perfection; constant in contemplation of the divine mysteries, she yearned to teach others ‘the secrets of prayer’, and shared her spiritual books for this purpose. She even sought to entice priests to a love of prayer. Though living almost as a hermit in her parents’ garden, she revealed her gift for sharing in the missionary efforts of the Church, burning with zeal for the salvation of sinners and of the ‘Indians’, to whom she would have given her very life. She subjected herself voluntarily to numerous penances, in order that the light of Christ might shine more fully upon them.
Fervent in her love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and in her devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, she spread the Rosary with remarkable zeal, believing that every Christian should ‘preach it aloud and cleave to it in his heart’.
She died in Lima on 24 August 1617, at the age of 31. She was beatified by Pope Clement IX in 1668 and canonised by Clement X on 12 April 1671; she has since then been honoured as Patron of South America.
This statue of the saint is in St Rose's Priory church in Springfield KY.
St Rose of Lima
Isabella Flores, commonly known as Rose, was born in Lima, Peru, in 1586, and became the first canonised saint of the Americas, renowned for her life of prayer and penance.
She desired to join the sisters of the Third Order of St Dominic in order to follow more fully the way of evangelical perfection; constant in contemplation of the divine mysteries, she yearned to teach others ‘the secrets of prayer’, and shared her spiritual books for this purpose. She even sought to entice priests to a love of prayer. Though living almost as a hermit in her parents’ garden, she revealed her gift for sharing in the missionary efforts of the Church, burning with zeal for the salvation of sinners and of the ‘Indians’, to whom she would have given her very life. She subjected herself voluntarily to numerous penances, in order that the light of Christ might shine more fully upon them.
Fervent in her love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and in her devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, she spread the Rosary with remarkable zeal, believing that every Christian should ‘preach it aloud and cleave to it in his heart’.
She died in Lima on 24 August 1617, at the age of 31. She was beatified by Pope Clement IX in 1668 and canonised by Clement X on 12 April 1671; she has since then been honoured as Patron of South America.
This statue of the saint is in St Rose's Priory church in Springfield KY.