One hundred years after the discovery of The New World, was born at Lima, the Capital of Peru, the Virgin, Rose, the First Flower of Sanctity which bloomed in South America. The name was given to her because, one day, the face of the child appeared transfigured and with all the beauty of a Rose. She added to it the name of The Blessed Virgin Mary, wishing, thenceforth, to be called "Rose of Saint Mary".
Watered by The Divine Dew of Grace, she produced beautiful blooms of Virginity and Patience (Collect). When five years old, she made her Vow of Perpetual Virginity, taking Jesus for her Spouse (Epistle). Later, to avoid being obliged to marry, she cut off her beautiful hair.
Having received the Habit of a Tertiary of The Order of Saint Dominic, she gave herself up to Prayer and austere mortification. When she was thirty, on 29 August 1617, her Divine Spouse came to take her (Gospel, Communion), and, adorned with her radiant beauty, she entered triumphant into The Court of The Heavenly King (Gradual, Alleluia).
Mass: Dilexisti. Commemoration: Saint Felix and Saint Adauctus. Martyrs.
As a Saint, Rose of Lima is designated as a Co-Patroness of The Philippines, along with Saint Pudentiana, who were both moved as Second-Class Patronage, in September 1942, by Pope Pius XII, but remains the Primary Patroness of Peru and the indigenous natives of Latin America.
She was born Isabel Flores y de Oliva, in the City of Lima, then in the Vice-Royalty of Peru, on 20 April 1586. She was one of the many children of Gaspar Flores, a Harquebusier (Cavalryman) in the Imperial Spanish Army, born in San Germán on the island of San Juan Bautista (now Puerto Rico), and his wife, María de Oliva, a native of Lima. Her later nickname, "Rose", comes from an incident in her babyhood: A servant claimed to have seen her face transform into a rose. In 1597, she was Confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, Turibius de Mongrovejo, who was also to be declared a Saint. She formally took the name of "Rose", at that time.
As a young girl — in emulation of the noted Dominican Tertiary, Saint Catherine of Siena — she began to Fast three times a week and performed severe penances, in secret. When she was admired for her beauty, Rose cut off her hair and smeared pepper on her face, upset that suitors were beginning to take notice of her. She rejected all suitors, against the objections of her friends and her family. Despite the censure of her parents, she spent many hours contemplating The Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily, an extremely rare practice at that time. She was determined to take a Vow of Virginity, which was opposed by her parents, who wished her to marry.
English: Basilica of Saint Rose of Lima, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Español: Basílica Santa Rosa de Lima, en Avenida Belgrano,
After daily Fasting, she took to permanently abstaining from eating meat. She helped the sick and hungry around her community, bringing them to her room and taking care of them. Rose sold her fine needlework, and took flowers that she grew to market, to help her family. She made and sold lace and embroidery to care for the poor, and she Prayed and did Penance in a little Grotto, which she had built. Otherwise, she became a Recluse, leaving her room only for her visits to Church.
She attracted the attention of The Friars of The Dominican Order. She wanted to become a Nun, but her father forbade it, so she instead entered The Third Order of Saint Dominic, while living in her parents' home. In her twentieth year, she donned the Habit of a Tertiary and took a Vow of Perpetual Virginity. She donned a heavy Crown, made of Silver, with small spikes on the inside, in emulation of The Crown of Thorns worn by Christ.
For eleven years, she lived this way, with intervals of ecstasy, and died on 24 August 1617, at the age of thirty-one. It is said that she prophesied the date of her death. Her funeral was held in the Cathedral, attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and with a eulogy by the Archbishop.
"The Life of Santa Rosa" was written by many, including: The Dominican, Father Hansen, "Vita Sanctae Rosae" (2 vols., Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward. Pope Benedict XIII, wrote "Concentus Dominicano, Bononiensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum" (Venice, 1674).
English: Saint Rose of Lima Church,
Sittard, Netherlands.
Nederlands: Rosakapel te Sittard (Limburg).
Photo: 7 August 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Gouwenaar.
(Wikimedia Commons)
In the Caribbean twin-island State of Trinidad and Tobago, the Santa Rosa Carib Community, located in Arima, is the largest organisation of indigenous peoples on the island. The second oldest Parish in the Diocese of Port-of-Spain is also named after this Saint. The Santa Rosa Church, which is located in the town of Arima, was established on 20 April 1786, as the Indian Mission of Santa Rosa de Arima, on the Foundations of a Capuchin Mission, previously established in 1749.
John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was a Victorian-era artist, a "remarkable and imaginative painter" known for his City night-scenes and landscapes.
His early paintings were signed "JAG," "J. A. Grimshaw," or "John Atkinson Grimshaw,"
though he finally settled on "Atkinson Grimshaw."
John Atkinson Grimshaw was born Leeds, England. In 1856, he married his Cousin, Frances Hubbard (1835–1917). In 1861, at the age of twenty-four, to the dismay of his parents, he left
his job as a Clerk for The Great Northern Railway to become a painter.
He first exhibited in 1862, mostly paintings of birds, fruit and blossom, under the patronage of
The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. He became successful in the 1870s and rented a second home in Scarborough, which became a favourite subject of his paintings.
Several of his children, Arthur E. Grimshaw (1864–1913), Louis H. Grimshaw (1870–1944),
Wilfred Grimshaw (1871–1937) and Elaine Grimshaw (1877–1970) became painters.
After having Solemnised on 24 June the joyous birth of Saint John the Baptist, The Church, today, honours his glorious birth in Heaven. Excepting The Blessed Virgin, he is the only Saint whose temporal birthday is observed. Saint John the Baptist holds in the worship of The Church The First Rank after The Angels.
John the Precursor, who had passed thirty years in the desert, where he had flourished like the Palm Tree, and grown like The Cedar of Libanus (Gradual), had the courage openly to reproach Herod with the scandal of his illegitimate union with Herodias, his sister-in-law, whose husband, Philip, was still alive (Introit, Epistle, Gospel).
"It is against the law," he said to the King, "for you to take the wife of your brother." Herodias forced Herod to imprison him and used an unexpected opportunity to obtain through her daughter, Salome, the beheading of the Saint who thwarted her criminal passion.
On this day, Saint John completes his mission, adding to the testimony he gave to Christ at His Baptism, the testimony of his Martyrdom. He was put to death towards the Passover, one year before The Passion of Jesus; but the Anniversary is Solemnised on the day when his Venerable head was found at Emesa, in Syria, in 453 A.D.
It is related in ancient legends that, on a Winter's day, when Salome was dancing on a frozen river, the ice broke and, closing again, cut off the head of the immodest dancer.
Mass: Loquébar. Commemoration: Saint Sabina. Martyr.
