Collect taken from the memorial of St. Rose of Lima, virgin.
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,…
“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;”
– Exclusion sounds like a bad word to us, but is in fact something we praise here. The fire of God’s love moved Rose to exclude the many good things in this world in the same way that a woman’s love for a man causes her to exclude the many other good men she might love.
“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.“
– Even though we do have to engage with this world and “tread the paths,” we pray that we are nourished by drinking of heavenly delights so as to not become lost in this world.
Questions & Advice: How crowded is your heart? What attachment most holds you back from the Love of God above all else? What is your greatest delight in this life?
Read about the eremitic and religious life in the Catechism (920-27). Spend some of your daily prayer time reflecting on your worldly attachments. Letting go of that thing right now will be very difficult, so ask God to first fill you with the desire to let it go. If you don’t want to be free, you can start by wanting to want to let it go.
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| Sancta Rosa de Lima, ora pro nobis! |