St. Rose of Lima - August 23rd

 

Today is the memorial of St. Rose of Lima, the patron of Peru, South America, and the Philippines. Her birth name was Isabel de Flores. She was born in Lima, Peru on April 20, 1586 and was the 11^th of 13 children.

Her father was a Puerto Rican, who had come to Peru in 1548 with the Spanish conquistadors. She received the name Rose when a housemaid, gazing upon her when she was still an infant, remarked: “She’s as lovely as a rose.” She was given that name at the time of confirmation. Her mother used to place a crown of roses on her head and had hoped her daughter would someday get married, but Rose had other plans.

She had a great devotion to St. Catherine of Sienna and a very special love of the Child Jesus. When she was 5 yrs. old she had asked the Child Jesus to teach her to read and write, which He did. She obtained cures from the Child Jesus for the sick.

Since she was beautiful, she didn’t want to tempt anyone by her beauty so she cut her hair and rubbed red pepper on her skin to make it appear blotchy.

Rose did not want have anything to do with vanity. A few years ago, I went to Medjugorje and was blessed to be with Maria, one of the visionaries when she had an apparition. Earlier in the day, some women from our group asked me a question. The said, “Is it vanity for women to wear make-up?” One of the women said that she permanently removed her eyes brows and had new ones tattooed in their place. I responded saying, “Tattooing eyebrows might be sinful. I am sure the Virgin Mary never wore make-up. Yes, I think to wear make-up is vanity. God created each person and each person is beautiful to Him.” I also said, “Men can suffer from vanity too. Rather than exercising for health, some spend many hours lifting weights, thinking they will impress women, so as to be enamored by their physical appearance.”

Some women didn’t like my answer, especially when I said I didn’t think women should wear make-up. One woman said, “But we want to be pretty for men”. And I said, “The deepest beauty is found in a woman’s soul.”

Then later, after the apparition, Maria gave a talk to the group, which she rarely does. Not knowing anything about our conversation, all of us were shocked to hear Maria say, “Ladies, you do not need to wear make-up. This is a worldly thing. We need to live for heaven.” Maria said, “Mary is the most beautiful woman She has ever seen. Her beauty comes from the virtues of Her soul.”

I was humbled by it all and felt the Virgin Mary Herself, defended what I said.

Saint Rose of Lima lived a life of penance, frequently fasted, didn’t eat meat, spent hours in prayer, mortified herself, flogged herself, wore a hair shirt, and served the poor.

She offered up her suffering as a way of atoning for the idolatry of her country, for the conversion of sinners, and for the souls in purgatory.

When Rose was 20 years old, her mother encouraged her to get married and became extremely angry when Rose told her she made a vow of chastity at the age of 5.

She became a third order Dominican. On the day of her investiture, Jesus appeared to Rose under the guise of a sculptor and asked her to help him build a block of marble. The saint replied that she only knew how to sew and cook. Then Our Lord let her understand that the block of marble, still unformed and rough, was she herself, and that she ought to have patience and let herself be worked and smoothed so as to become the image of her divine Master, a precious stone in the eternal city of souls.

Rose built a cell in a remote corner of the garden and after a period of trial and desolation, received the joy of spiritual espousal to Christ. Jesus said to her, “Rose of my heart, be thou My bride.”

She died at the young age of 31 and is often pictured holding the Child Jesus and wearing a crown of roses.

Many of the saints had apparitions and visions of the Child Jesus and everyone knows Mother Angelica had a vision of the Child Jesus, who asked her to build a temple in His honor and that is why we are all here today attending Mass in this magnificent Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Our Lord and Our Lady appear only to humble souls. And these humble souls are nothing in the eyes of the world, but are exalted in heaven and crowned with glory for living a life of humility. As Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

My dear sisters and my dear friends, strive for the gift of humility and humble yourself, by accepting the way God created you and trust that the beauty of your soul is found in imitating the virtues of the Virgin Mary, and living a life of detachment from the world, so that we can be attached to God alone.

If we want to be humble, we only need to gaze upon the humility of Christ in the Eucharist.

St. Francis of Assisi spoke about the humility of God in the Eucharist. He told his friars:

“Kissing your feet, therefore, and with all the love of which I am capable, I implore all of you brothers to show all possible reverence and honor to the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Whom that which is in heaven and on earth has been brought to peace and reconciled to almighty God . . . How holy, just and fitting must be he (the priest) who touches with his hands, receives in his heart and mouth, and offers to others to be received the One Who is not about to die but Who is to conquer and be glorified, upon Whom the angels longed to gaze . . . Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world tremble, and let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest! O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under an ordinary piece of bread! Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before Him! Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!”