_{HOLY SITE. Church and courtyard of St. Rose of Lima in Lima, Peru. Christopher White}

 

 

In preparing to travel to Peru this past spring, a pilgrimage wasn’t leading me to the Land of the Incas. I was going to visit Machu Picchu, the famed 15th-century ruins nestled high in the Andes.

But upon landing in Lima, the nation’s capital, its deep Catholic identity — both of the past and present — was inescapable.

 

Peruvian Holiness

Many of us are familiar with the names and legacies of the great saints of Europe, but what about the likes of Turibius of Mogrovejo or Francis Solanus? They’re two of the five saints who hail from Peru, and their stories deserve a hearing.

Francis was a 16th-century missionary Franciscan priest to the New World known for his work among the poor in Lima. Tradition has it that his great faith allowed him to miraculously walk across a river and on another occasion assist in bringing back a young girl to life after she took a fall from the second floor of her parents’ home. He is known for preaching the importance of baptism — a lesson Pope Francis just preached anew at World Youth Day in Krakow, where he encouraged young people from around the world to not forget the date of their baptisms.

Turibius was also born in Spain, educated as a lawyer, employed as a professor and judge, and to his surprise, he was ordained a priest and bishop and sent to Lima as a missionary to serve as the archbishop in the late 16th century. Upon arrival, he crisscrossed the nation, fighting against colonialism and baptizing and confirming new Catholics along the way — most notably two of the most well-known saints from South America: Rose of Lima and Martín de Porres.

St. Rose wanted nothing more than to become a nun from a young age, despite resistance from her wealthy and prominent parents. Her parents eventually acquiesced and allowed her to join the lay order of Dominicans. She took a vow of chastity and memorably threw the key of her chastity belt down a well, a sign of her lasting fidelity to Christ.

She voluntarily cloistered herself and lived in seclusion in her parents’ garden house, where she undertook severe forms of penance and endured great visions of both ecstasy and battles with the devil.

She died in 1617 at the age of 31. St. Rose was the first person to be canonized in the Western Hemisphere. Today, she is the patroness of Peru and South America.

Martín, a lay Dominican brother, is known for his tireless service of the poor, orphans and children. Tradition holds that he was also known for the ability to bilocate, levitate and speak with animals. And contrary to the rest of his order at the time, he was racially mixed. Today, among the many other things he is remembered for is the fact that he is the patron saint of interracial harmony, making his intercession most needed in our troubled times.

 

Where the Saints Are

Santo Domingo Monastery and its attached church in the heart of the historic center of Lima were built in the 16th century, though parts of it have been rebuilt. Throughout the centuries, Lima has endured numerous earthquakes that have destroyed or severely damaged parts of the city and its eye-catching architecture several times over.

Even so, much of this site remains intact — including the monastery’s stunning courtyard with Spanish tiling and Baroque paintings that tower above the cloisters.

Yet the real treasures rest inside, where the faithful can pray at the tombs of Sts. Rose, Martín and San Juan Macías (the fifth of the Peruvian saints and a great friend of St. Martín). The skulls of Sts. Rose and Martín are on display, as well. English tours are available each day and last about an hour. Visitors seeking to add a bit of adventure to their time at the monastery can climb the tower of the church, which provides sweeping views of Lima’s historical center and main square.

A 15-minute walk away is the Church of St. Rose of Lima, built on the site where she was born. In addition to the church, visitors can view the room where she lived in seclusion, the well in which she tossed her key and the gardens where she walked.

Next door to the church is the hospital she founded to serve Lima’s poor and sick. As this site is slightly off the beaten path, many tourists forgo a visit here — to their great loss.

If one wants to understand why a nation has become so devoted to this great saint (she is, after all, the face on their highest currency note), one must return to her roots.

Back closer to the main square is the Church of St. Francisco, arguably the best-preserved church in the city. Built in the late 17th century, the colonial Church and its monastery have managed to survive subsequent earthquakes largely unscathed. However, the main attraction here is what lies below, where its catacombs serve as the final resting place of approximately 75,000 Peruvians. Their bones are stacked from floor to ceiling, and while not for the faint of heart or those wary of tight quarters, a visit makes for fascinating viewing and a humbling reminder that to dust we shall return.

In one of his first addresses, the newly elected Pope Francis declared, “How I wish for a Church that is poor and for the poor!” Traveling through the churches and religious sites of Lima, one can easily understand the spirit of this Pope and how the Church in South America formed him. Here, churches and religious institutions, such as schools and hospitals, were built close to those in need and in great suffering — it was their primary identity. The “field hospital” that Francis so often speaks of was their backyard.

Today, these churches not only continue to share in that same mission, but they serve as legacies to the saints that these institutions helped produce.

In this month when we celebrate the feast day of St. Rose of Lima (Aug. 23) — whether in Peru or via a spiritual pilgrimage — we would do well to reflect more deeply on how we might carry on their mission in our own lives today.

As St. Rose said, “We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.”

Or as Turibius of Mogrovejo used to say: “Time is not our own, and we must give a strict account of it.”

Christopher White writes

 from New York.