13:50 | Lima, Aug. 30 (ANDINA).
Thousands of Peruvians on Friday celebrated the feast of Saint Rose of Lima, the first Catholic saint of the Americas and patroness of Peru, Latin America, and the Philippines.
Pilgrims of all ages visited her shrine in Peru's capital Lima since early hours of the day to cast letters detailing their needs into the wishing well where St. Rose dropped the key from her cilice.
Saint Rose of Lima was the name given to a seventeenth-century lady who lived in Lima, Isabel Flores de Oliva, who felt a great religious vocation and spent her life caring for the sick and enduring harsh penitence to resist sin.
Even if she did not belong to any particular religious order, her good nature earned her fame while she was alive. After her death, veneration of her figure spread out, not only in Peru but also to the Philippines.
The Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, celebrated a special Mass in honor of St. Rose of Lima at the Cathedral of Lima with several government officials and diplomats in attendance.
(END) EEP/EEP
Published: 8/30/2013