St Rose of Lima
Said to be so sweet the bees followed her.
Patron: of embroiderers, gardeners, florists, people who are harassed for their piety, and those suffering family problems. She is the patroness of the Americas, the indigenous people of the Americas, and of Peru, India, and the Philippines.
Feast Day: August 30th
Known for her exceptional beauty, Rosa aspired to become a nun, but her parents pressured her to marry. To deter potential suitors, Rosa cut her hair short and burned her face. She performed secret and often painful penances, fasted multiple times weekly, and permanently abstained from eating meat.
Finally acceding to Rosa’s wish to take a vow of chastity, her father relented and provided her with a room to herself, where she spent hours in prayer and was said to sleep only two hours a night so as to have more time for prayer. She brought sick and hungry individuals to her room to care for them, sold her needlework and flowers she had grown to help her family, and made and sold lace and embroidery to support the poor.
At age 20, she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic as a lay member, and continued fasting and performing self-imposed penances, including burning her own hands. Rose wore a heavy silver crown with spikes facing inward to remind herself of Jesus’s crown of thorns; at one time, a spike became embedded in her skull and was removed only with considerable difficulty.
She died in 1617 at the age of 31, and her funeral was a major event in the city. According to the Catholic Church, many miracles followed her death, including a story that the city of Lima smelled of roses at the time of her death and that roses began falling from the sky.
St. Rose of Lima, pray for us.
Info from strose.edu The college of St. Rose