St. Rose of Lima

[PelagiathePenit]

Anyone else admirers of St. Rosa de Lima? Is anyone curious as to what she looked like? I know it is shallow, after all, she is the patron saint against vanity.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

She would have looked like a Peruvian young woman. There are a couple of really good biographies written about her, one of which was written by her spiritual director.

 

[Curundu]

I want to see St. Rose of Lima too. In heaven.

I regularly ask for her intercession.

 

[NeedsMercy]

From all accounts, St Rose was extremely beautiful, much to her dismay. From my parish (St. Rose of Lima!) webpage:

Santa Rosa de Lima was born on April 20 1586, in Peru. Her father was Spanish businessman Gaspar de Flores and her mother, Maria d’Olivia, was of Spanish and Incan ancestry. She was baptized as Isabel de Herrara. She was first baptized at home because of her poor health at birth. Isabel’s overwhelmingly beautiful complexion and features were the source of both problems and praise. The praise caused her name to be casually changed to Rose over the years, eventually becoming her name at her Confirmation ceremony in 1597. But the praise and concentration on her extreme beauty upset Rose throughout her life. She feared that the praise would make her proud and be a source of distraction to those who should be thinking of God, including herself.

Over the years, she often used mortification to refocus herself on God and remove distractions. Rose modeled herself after St. Catherine of Siena. Both St. Rose and St. Catherine experienced an overwhelming love when in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Her parents, who lost much of their wealth in a failed mining venture, looked forward to seeing their daughter married and be assured of a safe, stable life. But St. Rose didn’t want to marry. She was completely devoted to God, and wanted to remain so. To make herself less attractive to suitors, she rubbed hot peppers into her face to change her complexion and the smoothness of her skin. She also cut her hair, wore simple, unattractive clothing and worked to keep her hands rough through labor. She used many methods to fight any source of vanity or any temptation to give her life to anyone but God. While this may sound extreme to us, it does highlight St. Rose’s desire and commitment to serve God alone.