St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose was born 1586 in Lima Peru and she was exceptionally beautiful. It was the beauty that earned her the nickname Rose, and in 1597 at her confirmation, she officially took the name Rose. From an early age, Rose wanted to become a nun. She prayed, fasted and she also performed harsh penances all in secret. She adored the Blessed Sacrament daily and took daily Communion. When Rose was a young woman suitors began to take interest in her. To deter these men Rose took peppers and rubbed them on her face to cause blisters and she cropped her hair short. Her parents did not want her to be in a religious order and wanted her to marry. After a battle of wills her father finally gave in and Rose was given her own room. Here she would spend hours in prayer sleeping as little as two hours a night. She also gave up meat altogether which would be considered an extreme dietary restriction at that time. At the age of 20, she was permitted to enter the Third Order of St. Dominic. She continued a life of extreme prayer, fasting, and penance. She died at the age of 31 and was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X. Her feast day is August 23rd and she is the patron saint of embroiderers, gardeners, florists, those who suffer ridicule for their piety, and people who suffer family problems.