{"id":"st-rose-lima","name":"St. Rose of Lima","title":"First Saint of the Americas","knownFor":"Mystic and Ascetic of Peru","feastDay":"August 23","lifespan":"1586-1617","patronOf":"Peru, The Americas, Philippines, Florists, Gardeners","shortBio":"The first person born in the Americas to be canonized. A Dominican tertiary who lived a life of extreme penance and mystical prayer in colonial Lima, becoming a model of holiness for the New World.","fullBio":"Born Isabel Flores de Oliva in Lima, Peru, to Spanish colonial parents, she was nicknamed 'Rose' for her beauty. From childhood, she showed extraordinary devotion to God and practiced severe penances to preserve her soul's purity and reject worldly vanity.\n\nTo avoid marriage, she deliberately marred her beauty and took a vow of virginity at age 20. She became a Dominican tertiary, taking St. Catherine of Siena as her model. Rose created a hermitage in her parents' garden where she spent long hours in prayer and mortification.\n\nShe wore a silver crown with spikes on the inside to imitate Christ's crown of thorns, fasted extensively, and slept on a bed of broken glass and pottery. Despite these extreme practices, she maintained a cheerful disposition and cared for the sick and poor, turning a room in her home into an infirmary.\n\nRose experienced profound mystical visions and spiritual ecstasies, including mystical marriage to Christ. She offered her sufferings for the conversion of sinners and the souls in purgatory. She supported her impoverished family through needlework and growing flowers.\n\nShe died at age 31 after a painful final illness, her last words being \"Jesus, Jesus, be with me.\" Her funeral was attended by vast crowds, and miracles were immediately reported at her tomb. She was canonized in 1671, becoming the first saint of the Americas.","miracles":["Experienced mystical marriage to Christ","Numerous miraculous healings attributed to her intercession","Flowers bloomed out of season at her touch","Levitated during prayer and experienced ecstatic visions","Protected Lima from earthquakes through her prayers","Appeared to sailors in visions to save them from shipwrecks"],"imageUrl":"https://page.gensparksite.com/v1/base64_upload/c9d8d20e7339e2fda79ebf7b8c1a363f","imageAttribution":"Stained glass of St. Rose of Lima by Unknown (Late 19th/Early 20th C.). Unknown Church. Stained Glass","orderByDate":1617}