Santa Rose De Lima Day
Santa Rosa de Lima Day is a holiday and Feast Day that celebrates the anniversary of the death of St. Rosa of Lima, Peru. It is celebrated in Peru and other Latin American countries on August 30th. It is a holiday that has been celebrated since the 17th century because this saint was well-known for caring for the sick and the less fortunate.
Peru (National holiday)History of Santa Rosa de Lima Day
Born on April 20th, 1586, in Lima, Peru, Santa Rosa de Lima was born to a Spanish father and a mother of Indian descent. Her original name was Isabel, and she was one of thirteen children, but her parents began to call her Rose because of her rosy cheeks. As she was growing up, Rose began to show a lot of devotion to God.
While her parents dreamed that she would marry into a wealthy family and help the family escape the grips of poverty, Rose had other plans. She decided to follow a religious life. At that time in Peru, it was impossible for a young woman who wanted to follow a religious life to join a monastery because most girls couldn’t afford the fee to join one.
This is why Rose had to live in a cottage and support both her family and her charity work by selling flowers and assorted needlework. During this time, she looked after not only the sick but also the poor and needy in Lima, Peru. She did so by bringing them into her tiny cottage and feeding them or by doing other works of charity for them.
Eventually, the word of her charity spread far and wide, and the Dominican Order decided to let her join without having to pay a fee to the monastery. During her service to the sick, poor, and needy, she would often perform other acts of devotion to God.
Acts such as fasting on only bread and water or by wearing a spiked hoop of thorns around her waist and under her clothes or a crown of thorns on her head. She also attained a rather large following of people who believed that she could work miracles.
On August 24, 1617, St. Rosa died. In 1687, she was beatified. She would become the first woman born in the Americas to be made a saint. In 1729, she was given August 30th as her feast day in the Roman Catholic calendar. This is because the date of her death, August 24th, was already taken as the Feast Day of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle.
Santa Rosa de Lima Day Customs & Celebrations
Santa Rosa de Lima is honored and celebrated in a variety of different ways in Peru. Every year, a procession starts from the Convent of Santo Domingo – where her remains are interred – and proceeds to Lima’s Cathedral. Celebrations and masses are held all over Peru as well. Some people will light candles and honor Santa Rosa de Lima in their own way.
Peru (National holiday)
