St. Rose of Lima
Penance and Roses
St. Rose of Lima is the first canonized saint from the Western hemisphere. She was a Peruvian girl who was a mystic. Like many mystics living a life of severe penance, she died young at 31.
The birth hour is unknown, but I like the Moon placement because it aspects Venus: Beautiful Girl. This also places the Moon on Algol, which we have seen is almost a certainty in Catholic penitential mystics.
Mars-Venus = Thorny Flower or Red Rose. The Mercury conjunct = Named. It also means Head where she wore her crown of thorns.
Rose was born and christened (at her baptism) “Isabela.” This changed when she was three months old. There, her family one day found her in her crib with a rose over her face. It was a supernatural occurrence with a rose hovering over her face, out of nowhere. Unfortunately, we do not have a day nor time for this event. We only know Rose was three months old. So, July, after the 20th if we’re being accurate, and before late August. A possibility is this chart:
This is calculated for the Moon (Seeing and Face) is conjunct Rose’s Aries stellium and Mercury and semisextile her natal Moon and conjunct Juno and Saturn. Thus, it can be “Sees (Moon) and Calls/Names (Mercury) Thorny (Mars) Flower (Venus) on Face (Moon) and Renounces (Juno) Old (Saturn) Name (Mercury).” But, I could be wrong and it happened on a totally different day.
When Rose was three years old, her mother decided to teach her how to read and write. It was a grueling process where her mother was constantly infuriated with Rose’s failure to read and write (at three years old). She gave Rose a notebook with instructions to write the letters on each page. Rose retired to her bedroom and then came back with everything written correctly (this is after numerous failures). Her parents were shocked at her sudden ability to read and write (that apparantly her TigerMom was expecting from a three year old, anyway). Rose said she prayed to baby Jesus and he taught her. This was apparantly Jesus answering her prayer with a sudden ability to read and write. From that day forward, she was literate.
Rose, after gaining approval from her priests, made a vow of virginity at 151 years old, in 1601. The span of time for this was between March and July.
It may be impossible to know when she made her vow of virginity. But, I like this as a chart. If nothing else, it is demonstrative of what we would be looking for in virginal vows. Throughout the given timespan, Jupiter and Juno are conjunct. “Virgin (Jupiter) Vow (Juno).” This opposes transit Sun to give “Day of Virgin Vow.” Jupiter is also parallel her Saturn, again, “Virgin Vow.” The Suns are in semisquare, demonstrating an important event. Transit Moon is making a number of aspects to Rose’s natal chart: A 105 aspect to her Jupiter; a 75 degree aspect to Juno, and a 15 degree aspect to her Vesta. Transitting Vesta is in a sextile with Transit Moon. So, lots of “Girl” (Moon) and “Vow” (Juno) and Vesta which is named for religious virgin girls.
It was around this time Rose started to ruin her beauty (Venus) for fear of vanity and being a walking temptation to men. She shaved her head, in imitation of St. Catherine of Sienna, and smeared (Saturn) peppers all over her face to ruin her skin. Her natal Saturn-Venus conjunct shows “Despise (Saturn) Beauty (Venus).” There are other Saturnian assosciations possible to show her diminishing her beauty. Saturn is something that restricts or diminishes. She first did this as a child, leaving a long clump of hair so that maybe if she had her chapel veil on, no one would notice at church.
She performed extreme mortifications. Fasting from food and water; she wore a hair shirt under her clothes embedded with nails to pierce her skin; and wore a silver circlet (hidden under her nun headgear) with ninety nails in it to pierce her scalp. She would also wear a crown of thorny roses, at times. Her stellium is strongly indicative of all this. Mars shows the piercing and blood. Venus is girl. Saturn is penance. All of this is in Aries, which is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is the head. The stellium in Aries (Mercury) also show her inteligence in the language arts. She was intelligent, and gifted at singing and poetry (Venus).
She became a Third Order Dominican, a lay religious order. Third Orders of monastic orders allow a person to live a normal life, while still being involved in a monastic order. However, St. Rose pretty much lived as a nun, but in a room attached to her family home. Rose had visitations from Mary, infant or child Jesus, and St. Catherine of Sienna. She also had demonic visitations as well as nightly visions of being in Hell. Her Neptune squares Saturn: “Horrific (Saturn) Visions (Neptune).” Regarding the Heavenly visitations: Her Neptune semisquares Jupiter to explain the Holy Visitations. Pluto in Aries is “Mystical (Pluto) Communications (Mercury).”
St. Rose had a mystical marriage with Jesus. In this vision, it was the Child Jesus asking her to be her spouse. This can be seen with the Juno-Vesta square: “Religious Virgin (Vesta) Marries (Juno).” Unfortunatly, we don’t have any wedding date for this. However, we do have this:
Juno-Juno conjunct on Jesus’ birthchart. Her Juno and Vesta also aspects his Saturn.
"Lord, do not rebuke me in thy fury nor chastise me in thy wrath; the voice of my blood cries out to thee for mercy. It is in my blood that I wash away my sins to find grace in thy sight."
Biographies, including the one I got the months and year from, state Rose made the vow at five years old, but gives a year of 1601. No priest would allow a five year old to take a virginal vow, so, the 1601 year is valid.