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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confirmed by Archbishop Toribio of Lima, the name Isabel had been replaced by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 to
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 presence 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 protest 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. SOURCE :
EWTN
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