At my Aunt Ginny's suggestion, and in honor of my Grandma Rose, my Mother Rosemary, my Godmother Roseanne and my sister and nieces who were blessed with Rose as a middle name -- you may have guessed that I am featuring St. Rose of Lima today.
St. Rose was christened Isabel, but she was such a pretty baby that the housemaid called her "Rose", and the name stuck so firmly that it was under this name that she was canonized. Her family was well off and she was brought up in a fine villa. She obeyed her parents in everything, except when they wanted her to make a good marriage. She wanted to be a nun. They compromised in that she would not have to marry, but she could not enter a convent. She joined the third order Dominicans and built herself a hermitage in the family garden. Soon after this, the family fortune went bust and Rose helped to support the family by making lace and selling the flowers she grew in her garden. She also started a clinic in one of the rooms of her family's villa and she was known among the locals for miracles performed with the sick.
St. Rose was the first American Saint. She is the patron saint of Latin America, the Philippines and gardeners. Her feast day is August 23.
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