About Our Patroness

Saint Rose was born at Lima, Peru on April 20, 1586. Her parents were don Gaspar Flores

and doña Maria de Oliva. She died there August 30, 1617. Today, August 30 is celebrated as

Saint Rose's feast day in Peru. Many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Clement IX, in 1667, and canonized in 1671 by Clement X, becoming the first American saint. She is represented in numerous images wearing a crown of roses.

At her confirmation in 1597, she took the name of Rose, because as an infant, her face had

been seen transformed by a mystical rose. As a child she was remarkable for a great reverence, and pronounced love for all things relating to God.

After reading of St. Catherine she determined to take that saint as her model. She began by

fasting three times a week, adding secret severe penances, cutting off her beautiful hair, wearing coarse clothing, and roughening her hands with toil. All this time she had to struggle against the objections of her friends, the ridicule of her family, and the censure of her parents.

Finally, she determined to take a vow of virginity and adopted extraordinary means to fulfill

it. At the outset she had to combat the opposition of her parents, who wished for her to marry. For ten years the struggle continued before she won, by patience and prayer, their consent to continue her mission.

Her days were filled with acts of charity and industry, her exquisite lace and embroidery

helping to support her home, while her nights were devoted to prayer and penance. When her work permitted, she retired to a little grotto which she had built, with her brother's aid, in their small garden, and there passed her nights in solitude and prayer. Overcoming the opposition of her parents, and with the consent of her confessor, she was allowed later to become practically a recluse in this cell.

In her twentieth year she received the habit of St. Dominic. Thereafter she redoubled the

severity and variety of her penances, wearing constantly a metal spiked crown, concealed by roses, and an iron chain about her waist. Days passed without food, save a draught of gall mixed with bitter herbs. When she could no longer stand, she rested on a bed she had constructed by herself, of broken glass, stone, potsherds, and thorns. She admitted that the thought of lying down on it made her tremble with dread. This martyrdom of her body continued for fourteen years without relaxation, but not without consolation. During that time Our Lord revealed Himself to her frequently, flooding her soul with such inexpressible peace and joy. At those times she offered to Him all her mortifications and penances in expiation for offences against His Divine Majesty. for the idolatry of her country, for the conversion of sinners, and for the souls in Purgatory.

Her years of penance and suffering soon took their toll on her health. She died at the very

young age of thirty-one years of age. But she had provided the New World with its own saint and that would be very important for advancing the Catholic faith in North and South America.  Daniel B. Flores- Historian