St. Rose of Lima
Virgin
1617 (August 30)
From Lives of Saints
with Excerpts from their writings
Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc. New York,
Nihil Obstat: John M. A. Fearns, S.T.D., Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: +Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York
August 7, 1954
St. Rose of Lima
Rose of Lima has a special claim on our interest for
she has the honor of being the first person born in the Western Hemisphere
to be canonized by the Church. Only a little more than half a century
before her birth, the fabulous land of Peru had been discovered and seized
for Spain by the explorer Francisco Pizarro. In 1533 this enterprising
conquistador subdued the native population and took over as his capital
the inland city of Cuzco, with its strange Inca temples, palaces, and
great fortress. Two years later the seat of government was transferred to
Lima, a city on the coast, which came to be called the "royal city of
kings," because of its architectural splendors. Dominican friars and the
representatives of other religious orders were in the vanguard of a great
migration from Spain and Portugal that meant a long, dangerous journey
across the Atlantic, across the Isthmus of Panama, and down the western
coast of South America. To implant Christianity in the new empire was a
major aim; while the civilian population, European and native, were
working the mines and raising products for export, the friars and priests
were intensely active. They taught, preached, learned the native
languages, tried to win the love and confidence of the Indians, and soon
were engaged in building churches, hospitals, and schools.
The child who became St. Rose of Lima was
born on April 20, 1586, of a Spaniard, Gaspar de Flores, and Maria
d'Olivia, a woman who had Inca blood in her veins. The infant, one of ten
children born to the couple, was baptized Isabel, after an aunt, Isabel de
Herrara, who acted as godmother. This ceremony took place at home, for
the baby was extremely weak. Several weeks later the tiny infant was
carried to the nearby church of San Sebastian for baptism by the priest,
Don Antonio Polanco. By the time she was confirmed by Archbishop Toribio
of Lima, the name Isabel had been replaced by Rose, and this was the name
now bestowed on her. Rose had a fresh, lovely complexion, and she was
worried by the thought that this name had been given as a tribute to her
beauty. So sensitive was her conscience that she had genuine scruples
over bearing the name, and on one occasion, after hearing someone praise
her comeliness, she rubbed pepper into her face to mar it; another time,
she put lime on her hands, inducing acute suffering. This was her way—a
way conditioned by the time and place—of fighting a temptation of vanity.
Such self-imposed cruelties, as we have seen in the lives of some of the
other saints, have not been uncommon, particularly among those of a
mystical bent.
Rose seems to have taken for her model
St. Catherine of Siena, and, like the earlier saint, she experienced so
ardent a love of God whenever she was in the present of the Blessed
Sacrament that exaltation completely filled her soul. Yet Rose was not
without a practical side. Her father had been well-to-do, but when he
lost money in mining ventures, the family's fortunes reached a very low
ebb. Rose helped out by selling her fine needlework; she also raised
beautiful flowers and these too were taken to market. One of her
brothers, Ferdinand, was sympathetic and understanding toward this sister
who was so markedly "different." As she grew to maturity, her parents were
anxious to have Rose marry, and indeed there were several worthy aspirants
for her hand. Rose did not wish marriage, and, to end the arguments and
offers, she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, donned the habit, and
took a vow of perpetual virginity.
For many years Rose lived virtually as a
recluse. There was a little hut in the family garden, and this she used
as an oratory. She often wore on her head a circlet of silver studded on
the inside with sharp points, in memory of the Lord's crown of thorns.
Other forms of penitence which she inflicted on her body were floggings,
administered three times daily, the wearing of a hair shirt, and the
dragging of a heavy, wooden cross about the garden. She rubbed her lips
with gall and often chewed bitter herbs to deaden the sense of taste.
Both eating and sleeping were reduced to a minimum. Naturally her health
was affected, but the physical disorders which resulted from this
regime—stomach ailments, asthma, rheumatism, and fevers—were suffered
uncomplainingly. This manner of life offended her family, who preferred
their daughter to follow the more conventional and accepted ways of
holiness. Finally, when Rose began to tell of visions, revelations,
visitations, and voices they deplored her penitential practices more than
ever. She endured their disapproval and grew in spiritual fortitude.
In spite of the rigors of her ascetic
life, Rose was not wholly detached from happenings around her, and her
awareness of the suffering of others often led her to p0rotest against
some of the practices of the Spanish overlords. In the new world, the
discovery of unbelievable mineral resources was doing little to enrich or
ennoble the lives of the Peruvian natives. The gold and silver from this
land of El Dorado was being shipped back to strengthen the empire and
embellish the palaces and cathedrals of Old Spain, but at its source there
was vice, exploitation, and corruption. The natives were oppressed and
impoverished, in spite of the missionaries' efforts to alleviate their
miseries and to exercise a restraining hand on the governing class. Rose
was cognizant of the evils, and spoke out against them fearlessly.
Sometimes she brought sick and hungry persons into her own home that she
might better care for them.
For fifteen years Rose bore the
disapproval and persecution of those close to her, as well as the more
severe trial of desolation of soul. At length an examination by priests
and physicians was indicated, and this resulted in the judgment that her
experiences were indeed supernatural. Rose's last years were passed in
the home of a government official, Don Gonzalo de Massa. During an
illness towards the end of her life, she was able to pray, "Lord, increase
my sufferings, and with them increase Thy love in my heart." This
remarkable woman died on August 25, 1617, at the age of thirty-one.
Not until after her death was it known
how widely her beneficent influence had extended, and how deeply venerated
she was by the common people of Lima. When her body was borne down the
street to the cathedral, a great cry of mourning arose from the crowd.
For several days it was impossible to perform the ritual of burial on
account of the great press of sorrowing citizens around her bier. She was
finally laid to rest in the Dominican convent at Lima. Later, when
miracles and cures were being attributed to her intervention, the body was
transferred to the church of San Domingo. There it reposes today in a
special chapel. Rose of Lima was declared patroness of South America and
the Philippines; she was canonized by Pope Clement in 1671, August 30
being appointed her feast-day. This holy woman is highly honored in all
Spanish-American countries. The emblems associated with her are an
anchor, a crown of roses, and a city.
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