Since early hours of Saturday morning, thousands of devotees have flocked to the shrine of Saint Rose of Lima in Peru’s capital city as part of the celebrations honoring the first Catholic saint of the Americas and patroness of Peru.
Pilgrims waited in long lines hoping to get a miracle as they cast letters detailing their needs into the wishing well where St. Rose dropped the key from her cilice.
More than 100 police officers and 500 patrolling guards guaranteed the security inside the convent and its surroundings, due to the large crowd present.
Likewise, letters are sent to a virtual wishing well from around the world in Spanish, English, Italian, Japanese and German.
As it happens every year, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) department hosts its yearly Police Day celebrations in honor of its patroness including, among others, a serenade on the eve and a special Mass attended by political, military, civilian and police authorities.
On Saturday, the image of the saint was carried in procession through the streets of Lima by PNP officials.
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 patroness is also very popular in Spain and Italy.
(END) RMB/RMB
Published: 8/31/2014