August 23

1586-1617

Born to Spanish immigrants to the New World. A beautiful girl and devoted daughter, she was so devoted to her vow of chastity that she used pepper and lye to ruin her complexion so she would not be attractive. Lived and meditated in a garden, raising vegetables and making embroidered items to sell to support her family and help the other poor. Dominican tertiary in 1606. Mystic. Visionary. Received invisible stigmata. Suffered from assorted physical and mental ailments. First saint born in the Americas. Founder of social work in Peru. Great devotion to Saint Catherine of Siena.

Quotes by St. Rose of Lima...
"Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven."

"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."