Who was Saint Rose of Lima?
Isabel was born in Lima, Peru, more than four hundred years ago. An old story says someone saw that her little face was as lovely as a rose, so everyone began to call her Rose, and later she took Rose as her own name. Her family did not have much money, so Rose grew flowers in their garden and sewed beautiful embroidery, and sold them to buy what the family needed.
Rose loved to pray. With her brother’s help she built a tiny hut at the back of the garden, just big enough for her, and there she talked with Jesus for hours about her family, the poor of Lima and the whole world. She admired Saint Catherine of Siena and, like her, joined the family of Saint Dominic, wearing a white habit with a black veil. But she stayed at home, serving God right where she was.
Rose could not bear to see sick people with no one to help them, so she made a room in her family’s house to care for them: poor children and old people, Spanish, Indigenous and African alike. In each one she saw Jesus. Saint Martin de Porres lived in the same city at the same time. When Rose died, crowds came to say goodbye, and years later she became the very first saint of the Americas.
When is Saint Rose of Lima’s feast day?
Saint Rose of Lima’s feast day is August 23. That is her day in the General Roman Calendar. Peru keeps her feast on August 30, a national holiday, when crowds visit her sanctuary in Lima.
Clara tells the whole story at bedtime, in the Little Prayer Stories app.Get the app →
