Stained glass window from St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, D.C. Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.

The first person born in the Americas to be canonized, Isabel de Flores y del Olivia (1586 – 1617) was the daughter of Spanish parents in Peru. At a young age she had a vision of Mary, who called her the “Rose of Saint Mary”: thus, she is known as Rose of Lima. When she was twelve, she decided to devote her life to God. Believing that God had made her a “little” person, she did what she considered “little” things. As a Dominican tertiary, she offered all her small acts of penance for the good of souls in the New World. Rose also had many visions; in one she wore a crown of red roses, mirroring Christ’s crown of thorns. Rose of Lima is the patroness of the Americas.

The above excerpt is from Reflections of Dominican Spirituality: The Windows of St. Dominic Church, Washington, D.C. by Dr. Mary Moran.