Biography Of Saint Rose Of Lima English Literature Essay

Saint Rose is not one of the most commonly known saints, like Saint Patrick or Saint Francis of Assisi. However Saint Rose has a very interesting past. One occurrence worth mentioning is that unlike most saints, Saint Rose made herself unattractive because she was so beautiful. Saint Rose did this because she didn’t want people to be tempted by her beauty (Catholic Online).

When Saint Rose was born her real, full name was Isabel Flores y de Olivia. Her name was later changed to Rose when her mother nicknamed her because of her evident holiness, or just because of her beauty. Saint Rose was born on the 20th of April, 1586. Saint Rose’s feast day is the 23rd of August. Saint Rose was born in Lima, Peru (St. Rose). She was born to Gaspar Flores and Maria de Olivia (Catholic Online).

Growing up, Saint Rose had a very tough childhood. Since she had many siblings, her family was very poor. When Saint Rose went with her mother to visit her mother’s friends, her mother would always make her wear a crown of roses. Saint Rose’s mother was very proud of her daughter’s beauty. Once Saint Rose was old enough, she helped support her family in any way she could. When she was old enough she would help her family by selling her embroideries and growing flowers and selling them in the market. For many years Saint Rose wished to become a nun, but her father forbade her. Her father forbade her to do so because to become she had to take a vow of virginity, but he wished her to marry (Catholic Online).

Saint Rose was mostly in deep personal prayer. She would attend Mass regularly. At the age of 23, Saint Rose went into a small room that her brother had built and rarely came out, except for religious purposes. Some of these purposes would be to go to Mass, receive the Eucharist, or say penance to her priest. When God had spoke to her, which was frequently, Saint Rose was still, not moving for hours ( The Holy See). Saint Rose thought that people might be tempted by her beauty, so she rubbed peppers and lye on her face until her face was covered with blisters and was red. Saint Rose knew that she must do her best to help God’s people, and try her best to keep them away from sin and temptation. Saint Rose didn’t grow up in very healthy conditions. Saint Rose was sick very often because of this. The poor conditions lessened her immune system greatly as well. This is a main cause of why Saint Rose was sick very often. Even though she was sick very often she helped the poor before she even thought about her conditions. Her sicknesses were often excruciatingly painful, but still she asked for more suffering to offer up to God as her sacrifice (Catholic Online).

Saint Rose has many patronages. Saint Rose is patron saint of the Americas, Central America, Latin America, Lima, Peru, Philippines, South Americas, India, West Indies, Villarreal, and Samar because that is around the area that Saint Rose was born and the areas that she affected the most. Saint Rose is also the patron saint of gardeners, florists, and needle workers because that is how she mostly supported her family. Saint Rose is a patron saint of many things and places because she was part of all those things or places in many ways or forms, even if she didn’t know it at the moment (St. Rose).

Saint Rose was said to have died from a self martyrdom by wearing a crown of steel with thorns on the inside. Saint Rose wore this crown because she wanted to feel the pain that Christ felt when he died (Catholic Online). Some others say that she died from normal causes without mentioning anything about a crown of metal spikes (St. Rose). Saint Rose died on the 24th of August, 1617. She died in the same place that she was born, Lima, Peru (Catholic Online). Saint Rose was said to have died at the age of 31 (Catholic Online). Others websites suggest that she died at the age of 32 (The Holy See). Although Saint Rose’s death is still a mystery we can still know abut her life and what she did to make the world a better place as much as she could.

I picked Saint Rose of Lima for my saint in my saint project because one day I was at Mass, with Kalyn, and after at youth group we read about saints. I got Saint Rose of Lima and I was really interested. After some research, I found out a lot more about Saint Rose of Lima. For some reason her life reminded me about the world nowadays. What I mean is that the world only cares if you’re rich or beautiful. Saint Rose wasn’t rich and she made herself unattractive. I admire Saint Rose because nothing else mattered besides her love and dedication to God. Many people tend to loose sight into this information. This is show by the rich celebrities, who have surgery to make themselves more attractive. Another reason I admire Saint Rose is that even though she was usually very sick, she helped others more than she helped herself. As humans, we tend to be self-centered, but Saint Rose wasn’t. She might’ve even been sicker than the people she was treating, but she didn’t care! That is a type of selflessness not seen very often today. In this world many people are rude, greedy, and selfish, none of which were the qualities that Saint Rose possessed. Reading this paper I hope will too admire Saint Rose of Lima. Maybe you might stop and help the homeless man on the street or volunteer. Just consider how fortunate you are next time you ask for anything.