St. Rose Of Lima €� Suffering Is Treasure From Heaven

[FFI Griswold]

Ave Maria!

Happy feast day of St. Rose of Lima! Here was a beautiful young lady who gave up everything to run to her Spouse. By embracing a life of penance, she became more and more transformed into He whom her heart loved.
 

She has a wonderful writing on suffering from today's office of readings:

Our Lord and Saviour lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.”

When I heard these words, a strong force came upon me and seemed to place me in the middle of a street, so that I might say in a loud voice to people of every age, sex and status: “Hear, O people; hear, O nations. I am warning you about the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: We cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon trouble to attain a deep participation in the divine nature, the glory of the sons of God and perfect happiness of soul.”

That same force strongly urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace. It pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant. I felt as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body, but that it had burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through the whole world saying:

“If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! Without doubt they would devote all their care and concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions. All men throughout the world would seek trouble, infirmities and torments, instead of good fortune, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace. This is the reward and the final gain of patience. No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.”

 

 

And some of the things saints have done in disdain of vanity:

 

“This South American Saint's real name was Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that she was called Rose, and that name remained. As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and one day, her mother put a wreath of flowers on her head to show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose had no desire to be admired, for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put a long pin into that wreath and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard time getting the wreath off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her beauty might be a temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes off her. Therefore, she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and blistered.” http://catholiconline.com/saints/saint.php?saint_id=446
 

 

(Intercessions from the Common of Virgins)

 

Christ, the holy virgins loved you as their one true spouse,
-grant that nothing may separate us from your love.

Your handmaids were always careful to love you with whole and undivided attention, that they might be holy in body and spirit,
-through their interecession grant that the lure of this passing world may not distract our attention from you.

 

COLLECT
O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love,
so that, secluded from the world
in the austerity of a life of penance,
she might give herself to you alone;
grant, we pray, that through her intercession,
we may tread the paths of life on earth
and drink at the stream of your delights in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

 

"Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart." - Saint Rose of Lima

 

"Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven." - Saint Rose of Lima

Ave Maria!

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

fra John Paul

[Blessed&Grateful]

since I was a young girl, St. Rose has been a great source of inspiration for me.

[BarbTherese]

Suffering and The Cross is central to our Faith and very important to underscore.  I think that we do need an adjustment of perspective and attitude towards suffering to embrace it as the very great honour and treasure that indeed it is.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Beautiful! thank you for sharing... St Rose of Lima is a great inspiration. I wish I could be as courageous in facing suffering as she was.