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In gratitude for your leadership, vision, service and
sacrifice; in recognition that we are the beneficiaries of the cumulative efforts
and the works of the scores of clergy, religious men and women, staff, and
parishioners who came before us; in acknowledgement that we have been
entrusted to build upon the Saint Rose Church legacy, that future generations
of parishioners may be strengthened in the Spirit by the work we do today;
for the praise and glory of His Name, Amen.
1859-1862 Rev. Francis J. Lenihan
1862-1868 Rev. James Daly
1868-1873 Rev. John Rogers
1873-1889 Rev. James McCartan
1889-1891 Rev. Patrick Donohue
1891-1910 Rev. Patrick Fox
1910-1921 Rev. George T. Sinnott
1921-1922 Rev. John A. Conway
1922-1925 Rev. Michael Regan
1925-1929 Rev. William H. Kennedy
1929-1931 Rev. Charles H. Kane
1931-1946 Right Rev. William J. Collins, P.A., V.G.
1946-1970 Msgr. Walter R. Conroy
1970-1973 Rev. Raymond Stevenson
1973-1986 Rev. Joseph Kohut
1986-1999 Msgr. George D. Birge
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Christened Isabella de Herra after her birth in April, 1586,
Our Patroness was such a beautiful infant the people of Lima, Peru, likened
her to an exquisite Rose. From the beginning of her life she was known as an
extraordinary child. She was one of those souls chosen by Almighty God to
manifest His Glory as He sometimes condescends to do in the souls of His
creatures. Miracles and wonders surrounded her infancy and childhood.
Her beauty increased with the years and persons were in the habit of alluding
to it in her presence. This distressed Rose. One day in her practical way of
praying, she said to Our Mother, "This name they call me is not my own,
it was given to me as a kind of vain adornment. I do not deserve it.
But as she knelt in the Chapel, Our Lady smiled upon her and said, "Thy
name is very pleasing to the Son whom I bear in my arms; but henceforth, thou
shalt add mine to it, and shalt be called Rose of Saint Mary. Thy soul must
be a fragrant flower consecrated to Jesus."
From this time forward she used such means of mortifying her innocent body
that a modern Christian must shrink from the very mention of them. She
offered herself as a sacrifice for the conversion of hardened sinners.
Rose joined the tertiaries of Saint Dominic. They are like the third Order of
Saint Francis, to which people living in the world belong. She occupied a
little house, or cell, in the garden where she worked, and lived apart from
the rest of the household. She received Holy Communion every day, and often
this would be her only nourishment. She passed whole weeks without taking
food.
When Rose died in 1617 at the age of 31, her body was laid in the Church of
the Dominicans, where it still rests - the most precious treasure of the
great city of Lima.
Saint Rose had hardly taken her place in Heaven, before crowds began to visit
her tomb. Many miracles were worked through her intercession, but the
greatest of all would seem to be the conversions that took place. Rose had
spent her whole life praying for sinners, suffering for them, offering up
every pain of body and soul that they might be touched by the Grace of God,
and brought to repentance and salvation. Now the people went to the
Sacraments in throngs.
Saint Rose was canonized in 1671, and was made Patroness of America and the
Philippines. http://saints.catholic.org/saints/roselima.html
In reflecting on her life, we find that everything Saint Rose did was an
instance of self-sacrifice - always with the intention of doing God's will.
She realized that beauty is a gift of God, and that neither from it, nor from
any other gift we possess may we take credit ourselves, and she was ever
mindful that the only real beauty is that of virtue and holiness.
Saint Rose, dear Patroness, Pray For Us.
Excerpted, with editorial alterations, from a sermon by the Reverend Walter
R. Conroy, August 30, 1949, at the dedication of the statue of Saint Rose of
Lima, which remains on our Church grounds today.
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