Saint Rose of Lima: Life, Feast Day, Patronage and Prayer

Saint Rose of Lima was a young Peruvian virgin, a tertiary of the Order of St Dominic, who lived a hidden life of prayer, penance and charity in her parents' house and died at Lima in 1617, at thirty-one. Canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, she was the first saint of the New World raised to the altars, and she is the patroness of Peru, of the Americas, of the Indies and of the Philippines. In the traditional Roman calendar her feast falls on 30 August; here is her life as the Church tells it in the Breviary, her patronage, her symbols and the prayer of her Mass.

Who was Saint Rose of Lima?

The Roman Breviary opens her lessons with a sentence that sums up her place in the Church: "The first flower of holiness which came to full blossom in South America was the maiden Rose." She was born at Lima, the capital of Spanish Peru, on 20 April 1586, of Christian parents, Gaspar Flores and María de Oliva, and was baptized Isabel. The household soon called her by another name.

The Breviary relates that the face of the infant was seen to take on, in a wonderful manner, the likeness of a rose, "and this gave her her name"; she was confirmed under it by the archbishop of Lima, St Turibius of Mogrovejo. Later, the Breviary adds, the Virgin Mother of God joined her own name to it, and she wished to be called Rose of St Mary, which is still her title in the Missal: Sancta Rosa a Sancta Maria Limana.

From her childhood she gave signs of the holiness to come. Having taken St Catherine of Siena for her model, she vowed her virginity to God while still a girl. As she grew, and her parents thought of marrying her, she cut off her hair, which was very beautiful, so that no suitor might want her and no one could take her from the one Spouse she had chosen.

Her family fell into poverty, and Rose laboured to support it, tending the garden and doing fine needlework, without loosening her union with God. In a small hut she built at the far end of the garden she gave long hours to prayer. She cared for the poor and the sick, and bore with patience the illnesses, the ill-usage of servants and the slanders that the Breviary lists among her trials.

The Dominican tertiary of Lima

Rose never entered a convent. She received the habit of the Third Order of St Dominic, and lived as a Dominican tertiary in her family's house, following, in the Breviary's words, "the difficult path of St Catherine of Siena." The comparison is the key to her life. Like the virgin of Siena, whose life you can read in our page on St Catherine of Siena, she lived consecrated to God in the midst of the world, gave herself to prayer and penance, and served the poor with her own hands.

Her penances were extraordinary, and the Breviary does not soften them. She fasted so strictly that she passed whole Lents without bread; she wore a long and rough hair-shirt; under her veil, day and night, she wore a crown whose inner side was armed with points; she girded herself with a threefold iron chain and made her bed of knotted sticks and broken potsherds. These things are not given for imitation, and no confessor would allow them today without a particular call from God; they are the measure of a love that wished to share the sufferings of Christ crucified. The Church's ordinary teaching on the matter is set out in our article on Christian mortification and penance.

Then came the hardest trial. For fifteen years, the Breviary says, she suffered desolation and dryness of spirit, "bravely enduring torments worse than any form of death." After it she began to overflow with consolation, was enlightened by visions, and enjoyed a wonderful familiarity with her guardian angel, with St Catherine of Siena and with the Virgin Mother of God. The Breviary records that she heard Christ say to her: "Rose of My Heart, be thou My bride."

How did Saint Rose of Lima die?

After a long and painful illness borne in peace, Rose died at Lima on 24 August 1617, aged thirty-one. The Breviary says simply that she "was happily transplanted into the Bridegroom's garden." Her body was laid first in the Dominican convent and later in the church of Santo Domingo at Lima, where her relics are venerated to this day.

The day of her death, 24 August, is the feast of the Apostle St Bartholomew; the traditional calendar keeps her own feast a week later, on 30 August.

How Saint Rose of Lima became a saint

The Breviary says she was "famous for many miracles, both before and after she departed hence." She was beatified by Pope Clement IX, and canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, who inscribed her name "in the list of holy maidens." She was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized, and Clement X proclaimed her patroness of the Americas, of the Indies and of the Philippines.

Why is she a saint? Not for her austerities, which are only the outward sign, but for what the collect of her feast names: "virginity and patience." She gave God a heart undivided, and she bore suffering of body and of soul for years without complaint. Her biographers record a saying of hers that sums up her spirituality: "Apart from the Cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven."

She belongs to an extraordinary generation of Catholic saints at Lima. The archbishop who confirmed her, St Turibius of Mogrovejo, is in the calendar, and the Dominican lay brother St Martin de Porres, her contemporary in the same city and the same Order, was canonized later, in 1962.

What is Saint Rose of Lima the patron saint of?

St Rose of Lima is the patron saint of:

• Peru and the city of Lima;
• the Americas and the Indies, as the first saint of the New World;
• the Philippines, by the declaration of Clement X;
• gardeners and florists, for her name, for the flowers she grew to support her family, and for the roses of her iconography.

She is also a model, rather than a formal patroness, for all who live a life consecrated to God in the midst of the world, as she did.

Her feast day: 30 August

In the traditional Roman calendar, the feast of St Rose of Lima is kept on 30 August, a feast of the third class in the Missal of 1962. The Mass is from the Common of Virgins, Dilexisti: "Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Psalm xliv. 8).

The Epistle is from St Paul, "For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians xi. 2), and the Gospel is the parable of the ten virgins who "taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride" (Matthew xxv. 1). The reformed calendar of 1969 moved her to 23 August; those who follow the 1962 books keep 30 August, the date of our traditional liturgical calendar.

The prayer of Saint Rose of Lima: the collect of her feast

The Church's own prayer to God through St Rose is the collect of her Mass, which is also said at Lauds and Vespers of her Office. It plays on her name and on the words of St Paul, "we are the good odour of Christ unto God" (2 Corinthians ii. 15):

Collect of the feast, 30 August

Bonórum ómnium largítor, omnípotens Deus, qui beátam Rosam, cœléstis grátiæ rore prævéntam, virginitátis et patiéntiæ decóre Indis floréscere voluísti: da nobis fámulis tuis; ut, in odórem suavitátis ejus curréntes, Christi bonus odor éffici mereámur: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

O almighty God, giver of all good things, who didst will that blessed Rose, forestalled by the dew of heavenly grace, should blossom among the Indies in the beauty of virginity and patience: grant unto us Thy servants that, running after the odour of her sweetness, we may deserve to be made the good odour of Christ: Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

It may be said on any day, with the versicle used for the saints:

V. Pray for us, O holy Rose.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

For a longer prayer, the nine days of meditations and petitions, with the daily invocation and the same collect, are in our St Rose of Lima novena, traditionally prayed from 22 to 30 August.

Saint Rose of Lima: symbols and images

The pictures and statues of St Rose follow her life closely, and each sign can be read:

• The Dominican habit, white tunic and black mantle, of the Third Order she belonged to;
• a crown of roses, which recalls her name and hides the crown of points she wore in secret beneath her veil;
• roses in her hands or around her, for the flower of Lima and for "the odour of her sweetness" in the collect;
• the Child Jesus, often held in her arms or resting on a rose, for the mystical espousal the Breviary records: "Rose of My Heart, be thou My bride."

Facts about Saint Rose of Lima

• Born: Lima, 20 April 1586, baptized Isabel Flores de Oliva.
• State of life: a virgin consecrated by vow, a tertiary of St Dominic, living at home.
• Died: Lima, 24 August 1617, aged thirty-one.
• Canonized: by Clement X in 1671, the first saint of the Americas.
• Buried: church of Santo Domingo, Lima.
• Feast: 30 August in the 1962 calendar.
• Model: St Catherine of Siena.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Saint Rose of Lima?

A virgin of Lima, in Peru, born in 1586 and baptized Isabel, who consecrated her virginity to God as a girl, became a tertiary of St Dominic, and lived a life of prayer, penance and service of the poor in her family's house until her death in 1617. She was the first saint of the Americas.

Was Saint Rose of Lima a nun?

No. She never entered a convent or took the vows of a nun. She received the habit of the Third Order of St Dominic and lived as a Dominican tertiary at home, in the world, like St Catherine of Siena before her.

When was Saint Rose of Lima born?

At Lima, on 20 April 1586, of Christian parents, Gaspar Flores and María de Oliva.

When did Saint Rose of Lima die, and how?

She died at Lima on 24 August 1617, aged thirty-one, after a long and painful illness borne with patience. She did not die a martyr; the Church honours her as a virgin.

When was Saint Rose of Lima canonized?

Pope Clement X canonized her in 1671, after her beatification by Clement IX. She was the first person born in the New World to be declared a saint.

Where is Saint Rose of Lima buried?

In the church of Santo Domingo at Lima, where her relics are venerated. She was first laid in the Dominican convent of the city.

What miracles did Saint Rose of Lima perform?

The Breviary says she was "famous for many miracles, both before and after she departed hence," and these were examined in the process that led to her beatification and canonization. Her greatest wonder, in the eyes of the Church, was her life itself: fifteen years of spiritual desolation borne without losing faith.

When is Saint Rose of Lima's feast day?

On 30 August in the traditional Roman calendar of 1962, a feast of the third class. The reformed calendar of 1969 moved it to 23 August.

The Iter Fidei app carries the 1962 Missal and Breviary, with the Mass and Office of St Rose on 30 August, and her novena with a daily reminder. Join early access here.

Sources. Roman Breviary, 30 August, lessons of St Rose of Lima, Virgin. Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 30 August, and Common of Virgins (Dilexisti). Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version: Psalm xliv. 8; 2 Corinthians ii. 15, xi. 2; Matthew xxv. 1.