Saint Rose of Lima

A life offered

Prodigies

A saint who seems to summarize all the practices of devotion to the Virgin is Saint Rose of Lima, who, by combining prayer and penance, becomes a valid model for those who, in measure of their generosity, want to make the month of May a certificate of love to Mary Most Holy.

The Peruvian Saint, in this, was "immeasurable". One day, for example, he had the idea of making a dress for the Virgin: "I will make her, she said, a skirt with 600 Ave Maria, as many Salve Regina and fifteen days of fasting, in memory of the pure joy caused by the Annunciation. She will compose the mantle with the same number of Ave Maria and Salve Regina, adding fifteen Rosaries and fifteen days of fasting in memory of his visit to St. Elizabeth, and with other prayers and sacrifices he made the fringes and ornaments of the mantle, the veil and a necklace. All this was most pleasing to the Madonna who returned her zeal in a singular way.

One day while the three-month-old girl slept in her cradle, passersby saw her face become like a blossoming rose. Since then the mother did not want to call her by any other name than Rosa's. Some years later, however, while the girl protested in front of the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary: "Why am I not the only one of all who bears the name imposed on me in Baptism? And what I bring, is it not given to me by an impulse of vanity? ", Our Lady appeared reassuring her: "My divine Son approves the name of Rosa, but wants me to add mine. Therefore from now on you will be called Rosa di Santa Maria ". So not Isabel, nor Rosa, but Rosa di Santa Maria was to be called the one who would have made her existence a gift to the Virgin.

Once the young Rosa had brought a bouquet of flowers to Jesus, the Lord appeared to her and took one of all saying: "Rosa, you are this flower. I take it for myself". Here is the aspiration of his whole life: to leave the world of which he had understood the vanity and to be alone with Christ

He took care of the garden, cultivating not only the flowers with which he composed very admired and requested bouquets, but also medicinal and aromatic herbs to be sold in the city. Precisely because of a basil plant, which she particularly cared for, she received a rebuke from Jesus, jealous of a heart that wanted all of her: "I do not want my beloved to dedicate her time to another flower besides me". On the other hand, however, the divine Bridegroom fulfilled his wishes by making flowers bloom even out of season to make her happy!
The desire for consecration became more and more demanding, prompting her to ask to enter the Poor Clares of Lima. The long-awaited day came when he left his paternal home, accompanied by his brother Fernando but an unexpected event occurred. During the journey, passing in front of the church of Santo Domingo, she beg to her brother to be able to visit the Virgin of Rosary for the last time. Once she entered, she knelt and prayed. Her brother, who was in a hurry, began to call her back, telling her that she would certainly not have had time to pray in the monastery, but the Saint, despite repeated attempts, could not get up from there, as if held by a superhuman force. He understood then that the chosen destination was not the one designated by God and promised the Virgin that if he had given her back the freedom to get up, she would certainly have waited to know the Sacred Will. Our Lady consented with a smile and did not delay in manifesting the Divine Will to Rosa. On August 10, 1606, in that same chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary, the young twenty year old dressed in the dress of the Dominican Third Order.

Growing up, she not only had removed all vanity in the care of her body and clothes but, convinced that "Love with love is paid for", she wanted to give the Lord a reciprocation of love as similar as hers. Hence the gigantic and almost frightening proportion of his penance.
His daily life program has surprising figures: 12 hours of prayer, 10 hours of manual work and 2 hours of rest. At night, in order to pray without being overcome by sleep, she kept herself suspended from the nails of a cross a little higher than her and leaning against the wall.

The Saint resorted as usual to the help of the divine Mother by asking her to wake her up at the appointed time. Our Lady took charge, waking her up gently every day. One morning at the call of the Virgin who as usual said to her: "Get up, daughter, here is the hour of prayer", the Saint replied: "Dear Mother, I get up, I get up", but sleep seized her again. The Blessed Virgin then approached her again, touched her and said to her: "Get up, O daughter, it is the second time I have called you." This time the Saint immediately opened her eyes, and barely had time to see the sweet face of the Virgin.

The Saint resorted as usual to the help of the divine Mother by asking her to wake her up at the appointed time. Our Lady took charge, waking her up gently every day. One morning at the call of the Virgin who as usual said to her: "Get up, daughter, here is the hour of prayer", the Saint replied: "Dear Mother, I get up, I get up", but sleep seized her again. The Blessed Virgin then approached her again, touched her and said to her: "Get up, O daughter, it is the second time I have called you." This time the Saint immediately opened her eyes, and barely had time to see the sweet face of the Virgin.

A few days before she died, she was given Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction, and was kidnapped in an ecstasy of love. He died only after renewing his religious vows, repeating several times: "Jesus, be with me!". It was the night of August 23, 1617.
After death, when her body, surrounded on all sides by people exulting with devotion, was transported to the Rosary Chapel, the Virgin from that statue in front of which the Saint had prayed so many times still smiled at her, for the last time. The crowd present cried to the miracle.
That smile is the sign of the most beautiful satisfaction that the divine Mother wanted to show for a life spent entirely in a heroic love with few equals.

Rosa was very familiar with her Guardian Angel, and he listened to her and gave her orders and messages. More than once when the Saint was seriously ill, he brought her the necessary medicines to cure her.
Once the angel was seen next to Rosa at the window of his cell, while both contemplated the starry sky. The saint also received frequent visits from Christ who came to visit her in the guise of the Child Jesus and called her with affection: "Rose of my heart". The girl always waited for the visits of the Divine Child at a precise time of day and if he sometimes did not appear at the appointment, Rosa impatiently sang pathetic verses of reproach or supplication. Once, a person who was near the hermitage at the moment when Rosa was waiting for Jesus' daily visit, heard her distinctly ordering her guardian angel to go and remind the Lord that the time of her visit had passed.

His love for Christ and for the Church was such that one day Rosa had to defend Lima from the assault of the Dutch Calvinists who, led by the Spitberg fleet, attacked the city. Rosa approached the altar and embraced the Tabernacle, staying there until the city was suddenly freed due to the sudden death of the Dutch admiral.