Nuestra Santa: SANTA ROSA DE LIMA PERU
Rose of Our Lady
Delicate flower of Lima
Bless this day and protect our nation
Listen to the poor
Who fight for justice and peace
And strengthen their hope.
Inflame the faith of all people.
Patron Saint of the Sick
She had an open door ready to receive and assist anyone in need. Father Melendez who wrote of his memories of her remembered: she did not distinguish between the Spaniard, the stranger, the Indians, the blacks, whomever was poor she attended to their need.
Patron Saint of the National Police of Peru
Rosa was sensitive to and became aware of the injustices present in her world. At the age of 11 she recognized the suffering of and the injustices endured by her father who became a miner and who worked in slave-like conditions along with the indigenous people.
Her Life Story
On the 20th of April 1586 she was born. Her father was Puerto Rican and her mother from Lima. She was baptized with the name of Isabel Flores Oliva, however her black caregiver started to call her Rosa because of her beautiful features like a rose. Rosa lived in her parents home choosing a life of helping those in need. She loved nature and enjoyed tending the garden. As well she built a hermitage in a corner of the garden and began a life of solitude dedicated to her spiritual routine. At 24 she chose to wear the habit of the Third Order of St Dominic. She died the 24th of August in 1617 at 31 years of age and canonized in 1671. She is venerated as patron saint of Peru as well as all of Latin America and the islands of the Philippines.
Remembering Saint Rose of Lima today
- Every church, chapel or school in Peru that bears her name will honour her with processions, novenas and fiestas
- Many little girls carry her name
- Tourists visit her Lima home, hermitage and garden and write prayer intentions to drop into the well
- The National Police Force include her their annual day of celebration
- On the bulletin board in the Chincha Church her name in large colourful letters has been a reminder of the August 30th date when she is remembered in the Peruvian Liturgical calendar.
Assisted by details from Un Santo Para Cada Dia Mario Sgarbossa and Luis Giovannini
- Submitted by Hermanas Gloria, Maria y Mabel
August 30th marks the commemoration and public holiday in Peru, of Saint Rose of Lima, or Santa Rosa de Lima in Spanish. Saint Rose was the patron saint of Peru and the rest of the indigenous people of Latin America and the Philippines. The beautiful patron saint was born in 1956 in Lima to Spanish Colonists and was known for her piety and chastity. Today she is celebrated across Peru, with a national holiday declared in her name!