One of my cousins requested that I do a post on St. Rosemary. This is a very sweet gesture as she is aware that this is the first Thanksgiving week we will spend without my Mon (whose name was Rosemary, for any who may not know). I think that this will be the hardest holiday for me and my family as Thanksgiving was Mom's favorite holiday - and she owned it. She always started planning well ahead of time and she kept a schedule posted inside a cupboard door so that everything would be ready at the right time - and of course we all had are marching orders, too.
As for St. Rosemary - there isn't one. At least not officially. But there is a Blessed Rosa Maria, which works in my book. Rosa Maria Benedetta Gattorno was born in October 1831 in Genoa. At 21, she married Gerolamo Custo and moved to Marseille. They were forced to returned to Genoa after some financial problems. They had three children.
Gerolamo's death in March 1858 opened up the way to a new vocation for Rosa Maria Benedetta. She became a member of the Third Order of Franciscans and dedicated herself to the poor and children. IN 1862, she received the stigmata. Afraid that her new vocation would force her to abandon her children, she consulted with a Capuchin Friar, her confessor and the Archbishop of Genoa. She even obtained an audience with Pope Pius IX in 1866. He encouraged her to start her new order while remaining with her children. Rosa Maria established the Daughters of Saint Anne later that same year. She assumed the habit in 1867 and took the religious name Anna Rosa.
In the beginning of 1900, she contracted influenza and her health started to deteriorate. She died on May 6, 1900. Her feast day is May 6 and she is patroness of Widows and Mothers.
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