Saint Rose of Lima, Patroness of the Americas, is the first canonized saint of the New World. Born on Peruvian soil, Saint Rose was Spanish, but it is almost certain that her maternal great-grandmother was Incan. She was the tenth of thirteen children, and her mother experienced no pain at her birth.Though exquisitely beautiful (hence her nickname, Rose), she refused to marry, and while helping support her family by needlework and growing flowers, she practiced heroic charity and lived as a Dominican Tertiary in her parents’ home. Rose tenderly cared for the sick, even those with repulsive wounds, and she often obtained miraculous cures for people from the Child Jesus.

On other occasions, she worked miracles in order to feed the members of her family, and became known as “Mother of the Poor.”  Rose continually prayed and offered her sufferings for the conversion of the idolatrous Incas. In the year 1615, through her prayers, the Blessed Sacrament and the people of Lima were spared attack by savage pirates.

Saint Rose was a friend and confidant of Saint Martin de Porres, who lived in the same city. She was confirmed by Saint Toribio Mogrovejo, Archbishop of Lima.  Her mystical experiences caused an ecclesiastical inquiry. Though dead at only 31, Saint Rose’s love of God was so intense that she was recognized as a saint in her own time and was canonized by the Church just 54 years later, in 1671 by Pope Clement X.

Saint Rose is the only American saint whose words appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. One quote from Saint Rose, “When we serve the poor and the sick we serve Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.”