Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.
Saint Rose of Lima was a mystic saint of the first order
who led a life of great penances for the love of God and others.
The love of God inflamed her spirit in such a way
that her whole being breathed charity
and the desire to help others through her prayers
sufferings and personal collaboration.
Our Lord Jesus Christ granted her extraordinary graces
and many moments of her prayer were spent in ecstasy or rapture,
enjoying heavenly joys.
The Miracle of the Holy Face happened on April 15th, 1617
at seven o'clock at night,
while Saint Rose was at the house of the accountant Gonzalo de la Maza,
who had in his oratory a face of Christ
or Ecce homo
the work of the painter
Angelico Medoro
an Italian based in Lima.
At that time,
Gonzalo de la Maza and his wife were praying with their two daughters,
Micaela and Andrea, and with Rose.
Rose spoke aloud with fervent prayers.
Gonzalo de la Maza and his wife left and the two girls stayed with Rose.
At one point,
Micaela approached, to snuff out the candles,
and she saw that the face,
hair and beard of the holy image were wet,
like rained upon with dew.
The Lord's face was miraculously sweating.
This was a case that was made public in Lima,
as a miracle of the Lord.
An investigation was carried out about this
and the same Rose was summoned and declared the following:
This witness, referring to Rose,
and Mrs. Micaela and Mrs. Andrea remained in the oratory.
And this witness,
looking at the Holy Face,
it seemed to her that it was more aglow
and with greater radiance and beauty than other times
and I began to say aloud:
“God of my soul and of my heart,
all creatures love you as you love us, My Lord"
And, while saying these words and looking at the Holy Face,
it seemed more lovely and beautiful to her,
that it dazzled her
and Micaela got up
to snuff out the candles
and saw the hair of the head and the beard of the Holy Face
wet and sprinkled;
and Micaela said to this witness:
"Sister, have you sprayed the image that is very wet?"
And Rose replied do not say that.
And Mrs Maria, the mother of Micaela
saw the same thing as Mrs Micaela
and said that the Holy Face was wet, saying:
"Daughter, it is full of precious pearls, which shine like diamonds”
And Mrs Maria looked carefully at the Holy Face,
and as it cast so much brilliance that it dazzled her,
she could not see if it was wet
until she got up and approached the altar
and then, saw that from the hairline of the head
and from the beard of the Holy Face,
many drops of water came out
as if He were sweating,
and she was left with great admiration,
because it seemed to her that it was a miracle that Our Lord wanted to work,
for His honor and glory,
and the consolation of souls.
The holy Face sweated for about two and three-quarter hours
that was from a quarter past seven that he began to sweat until ten.
And all were left with great admiration,
and they took it as a miracle that Our Lord had worked.
And they all left and the oratory was closed.
And this is what happened and the truth,
for the oath that she has made,
and she signed it and said she was thirty years old.
"Rose of Santa Maria"
Gonzalo de la Maza states that blessed Rose told him and his wife
that she received very great consolations and favors from Our Lord
in that most Holy Face as well as when she received communion.
Rose was cured with the cotton cloths soaked with the sweat of the Holy Face.
Mrs María declares:
blessed Rose had an arm with the nerves crushed from a fall that she had
on the second day of Easter this past year,
and having made many remedies for it,
none benefited her,
and the surgeons said that it will take a while to recover.
So, Rose said to Mrs Maria if she was wiped with the cotton cloths
that have the sweat of the Holy Face, she would heal.
Mrs Maria told Rose to put them on,
she said no,
that she wanted to suffer those pains for the love of her Husband.
These pains were so intense that Rose could not lift or move her arm.
Rose went to Santo Domingo and communicated it to her spiritual father,
who ordered her to put them on;
returning home,
she then asked Mrs. Maria to put some cotton cloths with the sweat on her arm,
and Mrs. Maria put them on at twelve o'clock
and left Rose locked in the oratory,
from where she came out at two o'clock, saying:
"Mrs Maria, I'm good now, thank God"
She was tugging at her arm and shaking it as if she had no pain at all.
On one occasion, Jesus as a jealous husband caught her eye.
Rose was very fond of flowers
and she took great care of them to adorn the Blessed Sacrament
or the blessed images with them.
"Sister Rose planted a basil bush,
from which she took branches to make bouquets that she carried on Thursdays
to the enclosure of the Blessed Sacrament
and the Virgin of the Rosary,
one day she found it stepped on and torn away;
and while she was afflicted,
the Lord appeared to her and said to her:
“Who do you think plucked the basil bush from you?
It was me,
because whoever has Me,
I who am the flower of the field,
should not use up flowers from here on earth,
but rather be busy loving Me”
What Jesus wanted to teach her was that she should not be afflicted by anything
and that she should not be so attached to the things of the earth,
to the point of forgetting about Him
and not knowing how to accept His will,
even in unpleasant things.
Saint Rose is our sister from heaven.
She knew how to give herself to God entirely,
without reserving anything.
Her suffering was for her a source of immense personal happiness,
because she obtained countless blessings for others.
Her happiness was manifested by singing,
while she worked and prayed.
Even nature joined her song and her joy.
Let's learn like her to praise the Lord,
let's love the Eucharistic Jesus,
Mary and the guardian angel.
Let us make our life a song of glory and love to our God
so that we can be a gift from God to others.
Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.