St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), a young laywoman of Peru who lived a hidden life of prayer and penance and cared for the sick and poor in her family’s home, was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized a saint. She is the patroness of Peru, of Latin America and of the Philippines, and her feast is a national holiday in Peru. Below are prayers to St. Rose of Lima for the sick and the poor, for a pure and generous heart, for gardeners and florists, her words quoted in the Catechism, Scripture and her story.
A prayer to St. Rose of Lima
Written for this page:
St. Rose of Lima, flower of the Americas,
you gave your whole heart to Jesus
and served him in the sick and the poor.
Pray for me, that I may love God above everything,
bear my sufferings with patience,
and serve others with tenderness.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.
A prayer for the sick and the poor
Rose turned a room of her parents’ house into a place to care for the sick, the elderly and the abandoned of Lima. The Catechism quotes her answer when her mother scolded her for it: “When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus” (CCC 2449).
St. Rose, you saw Jesus in the sick and the poor.
Pray for all who are ill, lonely or in need, especially (name).
Comfort them, heal them if it is God’s will,
and give me eyes to see Christ in them and hands to serve. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:
Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.
Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink?
And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee?
Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?
And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.
A prayer for a pure and generous heart
St. Rose, you consecrated your life to Christ when you were still a girl.
Help me to keep my heart pure, my love undivided
and my life generous, so that Jesus may be my first love. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
A prayer for gardeners and florists
Rose grew flowers and did embroidery to support her family, and she is the patroness of gardeners and florists.
St. Rose, you tended flowers and lived in a little garden hermitage.
Bless all who grow flowers and food and who care for the earth.
Make my soul a garden where God’s love can grow. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
The life of St. Rose of Lima
Isabel Flores de Oliva was born in Lima, Peru, on April 20, 1586, one of the many children of a Spanish soldier and his wife. She was so beautiful as a baby that she was nicknamed Rosa, “Rose,” and the name stayed with her at her confirmation. From childhood she loved prayer, and she resolved to give her life to God. She refused to marry and, to help her family, which had fallen into poverty, she worked long hours at needlework and gardening.
At about twenty she became a Dominican tertiary, a laywoman wearing the white habit of the Third Order of St. Dominic, taking St. Catherine of Siena as her model. She lived in a tiny hermitage she built in her family’s garden, praying many hours a day and practicing severe penances, which the Church admires for her love while not proposing them for imitation. She cared for the poor and sick in her parents’ home, and she was a friend of St. Martin de Porres. For years she also suffered great interior trials and misunderstanding.
Rose died in Lima on August 24, 1617, at the age of thirty-one, and the whole city came to her funeral. She was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671, the first saint born in the Americas.
Feast day and patronage
- Feast day: August 23 in the General Roman Calendar; August 30 in Peru, where it is a national holiday, and in the traditional calendar.
- Patron of: Peru, Latin America, the Philippines, gardeners and florists, embroiderers, and those ridiculed for their faith.
- Symbols: a crown of roses, the Dominican habit, an anchor, and the Child Jesus.
Frequently asked questions
Why is St. Rose of Lima important?
She was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized, a model of prayer and of love for the poor and the sick.
When is the feast of St. Rose of Lima?
August 23 in the universal Church; Peru celebrates her on August 30.
What is St. Rose of Lima the patron saint of?
Peru, Latin America and the Philippines, gardeners and florists, and embroiderers.
Was St. Rose of Lima a nun?
No. She was a Dominican tertiary, a laywoman who lived at home under a rule of the Dominican Third Order.
More prayers
- St. Martin de Porres prayer
- St. Catherine of Siena prayer
- St. Dominic prayer
- St. Juan Diego prayer
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- St. Rose’s words to her mother: quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2449.
- Scripture: Matthew 25:34–40; Psalm 72:25–26 (73:25–26 in modern Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayers were written for this page.