Background: St Rose was born Isabel Flores in Lima, Peru; her country was then a Spanish colony. She chose the name Rose at her Confirmation. St Rose emulated the life of St Catherine of Siena. She fasted three times a week, abstained from meat, performed many physical penances in secret and spent numerous hours in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She joined the Third Order of Dominicans and used all the money she earned, from the sale of flowers and fine embroidery, to care for Lima’s poor. St Rose died at the age of 31yrs. Her Feast Day is the 23rd of August.
Admirable Saint Rose, you were truly a sweet flower blooming on a rugged soil; you were indeed a rose among thorns, bearing, with meekness and patience, the stings of envious tongues, while preserving perfect purity and modesty amid the alluring blandishments of a deceitful world.
To the sufferings inflicted on you by others, you added the voluntary tortures of fasting and watching, of a crown of thorns and of a hair shirt, to subdue the flesh and to make yourself like your heavenly Spouse.
By the merits you gained with your Divine Bridegroom, obtain for me…
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…and the grace to bear my afflictions with patience, to remain pure and modest, to be meek and humble, to be faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and so to mortify my passions that I may be
… St Rose of Lima, Pray for Us …