St Rose of Lima - Patroness of Latin
America and the Phillipines
Feast Day - August 23
St. Rose of Lima is the
patroness of Latin America and the Philippines. 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 use to pray: "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase
Your love in my heart.”
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