(1586-1617) The first recognized saint born in the New World was born to Spanish immigrants in Lima, Peru. Rose was a beautiful girl who made a young vow of chastity and was a Third Order Dominican. She would use pepper and lye to distort her complexion to avoid suitors. She was a mystic and visionary, received the invisible stigmata (wounds of the crucifixion), and served the poor of Peru. She had a deep devotion to Saint Catherine of Sienna.

“Keep it simple.” So goes a common saying of 12-step fellowships. Saint Rose kept her life simple, keeping her garden and serving the poor, putting first things first, always. 12-step recovery is not a program for scholars, but a simple, spiritual program through which anyone can find a daily reprieve from their disease. Know what you are made for and keep your eyes on Christ. Don’t make any choices that veer from that path. Simple. Do we sometimes overcomplicate our recovery program?

“Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven” (Saint Rose of Lima).

Reflection by Brad Farmer