St. Rose of Lima is
the patroness of Latin America and the Philippines. She was born at Lima, Peru
on April 20th, 1586. This South American Saint's real name was Isabel, but she
was such a beautiful baby that she was called Rose, and that name remained. As she
grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and one day, her mother put a
wreath of flowers on her head to show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose
had no desire to be admired, for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put
a long pin into that wreath and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard
time getting the wreath off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her
beauty might be a temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes
off her. Therefore, she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and
blistered.
St. Rose worked hard to support her poor parents
and she humbly obeyed them, except when they tried to get her to marry. That
she would not do. Her love of Jesus was so great that when she talked about
Him, her face glowed and her eyes sparkled. Rose had many
temptations from the devil, and there were also many times when she had to
suffer a feeling of terrible loneliness and sadness, for God seemed far away.
Yet she cheerfully offered all these troubles to Him. In fact, in her last
long, painful sickness, this heroic young woman used to pray: "Lord,
increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart." She died in Lima the 24th of August, 1617, and
many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Pope Clement IX, in
1667, and canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first from the American
continent to be so honored. She is represented wearing a crown of roses.
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