Has Anyone Mocked You Lately? (Bede)
Series: Trinitytide
August 23, 2018
Fr. Vaughn Treco
180823 - Homily - Has Anyone Mocked You Lately? (Bede)
Episode Notes
180823 - Homily - Has Anyone Mocked You Lately? (Bede)
- SHE IS REMEMBERED FOR her PIETY and CHASTITY!
- Born in 1586 and named Isabel Flores de Olivia;
- Several weeks later this weak and tiny infant was baptized in the Church of San Sebastián for by the priest, Don Antonio Polanco.
- SHE WAS EXCEPTIONALLY BEAUTIFUL...
- Her beauty was so great that she was nicknamed "Rose";
- And though for a time she struggled with scruples about her beauty...
- At her confirmation in 1597, she officially took this nickname as her own.
- AS A YOUNG WOMAN, her beauty began to attract suitors.
- To deter these men, Rose marred her face, rubbing it with pepper to make it blister.
- And, she cropped her hair short.
- On another occasion, Rose put lime on her hands, inducing acute suffering.
- THIS WAS HER WAY — Her way to fight off the temptation to vanity.
- These self-imposed cruelties have not been uncommon, especially among the mystics.
- FROM AN EARLY AGE...
- Rose wanted to become a nun.
- She often prayed and fasted in secret.
- She performed secret penances, some of which were painful and severe.
- Daily she adored the Blessed Sacrament; and
- She also received Holy Communion daily;
- Neither of these practices were common in her time.
- HER PARENTS OPPOSED her plan to take a vow of chastity.
- There was a clash of wills...
because her parents wanted her to marry.
- But, her father eventually relented and gave her a room to herself in the family home;
- Rose then joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic;
- Donned the habit, and
- Took a vow of perpetual virginity.
- LIKE A FAITHFUL NUN...
- Rose kept herself cloistered in her room;
- She spent long periods in prayer.
- She slept only two hours each night — and that on a bed topped with broken glass and potshards —
- She took little sleep so so that she would have more time for prayer.
- ROSE TOOK HER CUE from Saint Catherine of Siena;
- She experienced an ardent love of God whenever she was in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament;
- And, this exaltation often completely filled her soul!
- YET ROSE WAS A PRACTICAL young woman;
- When her father’s fortunes suffered great losses, and the family's resources were at a very low ebb...
- Rose helped out by selling fine needlework made by her own hands;
- She also raised beautiful flowers and sold them at market.
- AND, SHE WAS NOT ONLY CONCERNED for her family’s well-being;
- Rose’s awareness of the suffering of others often led her to protest against some of the practices of the Spanish overlords;
- And she spoke out against them fearlessly!
- FOR MANY YEARS...
- Rose lived virtually as a recluse;
- She used a little hut in the family garden as an oratory; AND
- She used her private room to care for the sick and hungry who she brought into this sanctuary in order to better care for them;
- IN MEMORY OF THE LORD’S CROWN OF THORNS...
- Rose wore a circlet of silver studded on the inside with sharp points, cloaking its severity with a ring of flowers;
- Three times daily, she afflicted herself with floggings;
- ROSE WORE A HAIR SHIRT;
- She dragged of a heavy, wooden cross about the garden;
- She rubbed her lips with gall and
- Chewed bitter herbs to deaden her sense of taste.
- HER MANNER OF LIFE offended her family, who wished she would use more conventional and accepted ways of holiness!
- WHEN ROSE BEGAN to tell of visions, revelations, visitations, and voices...
- Her family deplored her penitential practices even more;
- She endured their disapproval and, thereby, grew in spiritual fortitude.
- FOR 16 OF HER 31 YEARS...
- Rose bore the opprobrium and persecution of those closest to her;
- She also experienced the more severe trial of desolation of soul.
- UNTIL HER DEATH ON
August 25, 1617...
few people knew how widely her goodly influence had extended, or
- How deeply venerated she was by the common people of Lima.
- When her body was borne down the street to the cathedral, a great cry of mourning arose from the crowd.
- For several days it was impossible to perform the ritual of burial on account of the great press of sorrowing citizens around her bier.
- THROUGHOUT MOST OF HER LIFE...as she pursued that holiness without which none of us will see the Face of God...
- Rose was derided, persecuted and mocked!
SO DEAREST FRIENDS:
On THIS FESTIVAL DAY of SAINT ROSE of LIMA — I ask you a question:
HAS ANYONE MOCKED YOU LATELY for the vigor of your pursuit of...
- the truth,
- the beauty,
- the meekness, or
- the righteousness of Jesus Christ?
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