Saint Rose of Lima

Live flame

From the "writings" of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin

The Savior raised his voice and said:

"We all know that grace follows tribulation, they mean that without the burden of afflictions one does not reach the top of grace, they understand that as the intensity of pain grows, the extent of the charisms increases. Nobody errs or deceives; this is the only true stairway to heaven, and outside the cross there is no other way to climb to heaven"

Hearing these words, I felt pushed to go out into the square to shout at everyone, whatever their age, gender and condition: Listen, people; let us listen, all people. On behalf of Christ and with words of his own mouth I warn you that grace is not received without suffering afflictions. Pain must be added to pain in order to achieve intimate participation in the divine nature, the glory of the children of God and the perfect beauty of the soul.

This same stimulus pushed me strongly to preach the beauty of divine grace, tormented me and made me sweat and yearn. It seemed to me that the soul could no longer stay in the prison of the body, but that the prison should break, and it, free and alone, with more agility, would go out into the world shouting: Oh if mortals knew what a great thing it is grace, how beautiful, how noble and precious, how many riches it hides in itself, how many treasures, how much happiness and delights! Without a doubt they would go in search of annoyances and pains themselves; they would go begging harassment, infirmity and torment instead of fortune, and this to achieve the priceless treasure of grace. This is the purchase and ultimate gain of well-accepted suffering. Nobody would complain about the cross and the pains that affect him if he knew which scales are weighed in the distribution among men".

(To doctor Castillo; ed. L. Getino, La Patrona dell'América, Madrid 1928, pp. 54-55)
He also wrote two sheets, one refers to the graces and inner trials of the saint, and the other to the mystical scale.

First sheet

In the first sheet, Rosa cut out three hearts, attaching them in series to graphically show the beginning of the communication sequence or mystical thanks. When Father Getino made these documents known, he reflected on the similarity of Rosa's mystical language with that of Santa Teresa di Ges and San Giovanni della Croce. Thanks to the inspirations found in this first sheet, it can be assumed that they were written before the General confession to which Rose was subjected.

The possible date of drawing these graphics is 23 August 1614, the eve of the feast of the Apostle San Bartolome. Rosa recipes the grace five years earlier (1609). In two years of suffering they could lead us to the time of her secular tertiary profession (30/8/1607) and affirm that in any case that she was subjected to this general confession as a prerequisite for being a Dominican laywoman.

One of the texts on the left side reveal that Rosa delivered these manuscripts to her confessor and spiritual guide to review and correct her errors as was customary at the time, who confirmed the authenticity and originality of these writings of Saint Rose.

Second sheet

The spiritual staircase drawn by Rosa had the same meaning as the spiritual staircase of San Giovanni Climaco; a work that Brother Luis de Granada published in 1562 which Rosa read. And since the works of St. John were published incomplete in 1618; subsequently the first editorial of the canticle appeared in 1627 and the second in 1703, when the Saint had died, and it is unlikely that Rosa's writings were a copy of the great mystic.

The two half sheets

Notes written by the Saint in two half sheets of paper with graphs and explanatory legends, found in 1923 by friar Luis Getino in the room where the holy Virgin died - currently Chapel of the monastery of Saint Rose, also called of the Rose.
"Made all these graces on several occasions that I cannot enumerate, because she repeated them many times, alternating a great deal of suffering and very exquisite crucibles, as on various occasions I have written for the glory of God".
The following degrees correspond to the passive purification, which Rosa represents by means of hearts, sometimes crossed by rays of love, others wounded with an arrow or submerged in God, adorning them with other signs and voices in her order: In the end Rosa paints on the heart six small wings with the cross and under the image of the Holy Trinity, in whose heart a heart is lost without any wound and with this phrase: "Enchantment, inebriation, secrets of divine love Oh, happy union, close embrace with God!"
Very high mystical theology fully lived by our patroness. It is a call to seek the Kingdom of God and holiness of life, the rest "comes in addition".