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Icons by Br. Robert Lentz, ofm.
Influenced by his Russian Orthodox background and a period of study with a master iconographer, Lentz's unique style blends classical Eastern iconography with contemporary elements and "witnesses."
Dimensions: 7.25" x 2.5"
St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
Coming from a bewildering childhood, Rose identified deeply with the suffering Christ. She longed to become a nun, but was prevented by her family from doing so. She practiced austere penances at home and eventually became a Dominican tertiary. She was a close friend of another Dominican saint with an unhappy childhood, Martin de Porres. To help support her family, she did fine embroidery and raised flowers for sale. Along with flowers, she raised medicinal herbs which she used to cure the sick poor of Lima, who began flocking to her small infirmary in her family's home. She had a special love and concern for the Indigenous who had been savagely conquered by men like Pizarro. She herself had Inca blood.
Her love for God was passionate and deep. She wrote mystical poetry, which she occasionally sang with a guitar. Like many a Spanish mystic, she had to defend herself before the dreaded Inquisition. Near the end of her short life, a small bird came each day at sunset and sang with her a love song that she had composed. She died after a painful illness, just as a clock was striking midnight - reminiscent of the Gospel parable of the Bridegroom and the ten virgins bearing lamps.
© Robert Lentz, 1987
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