From an early age Isabel Flores de Oliva demonstrated a clear calling to the Christian faith. Born in 1586 to María Oliva, a criolla or mestiza and a native of Lima, and Gaspar Flores, a criollo from San Juan Puerto Rico and of Spanish ancestry, “Rosa” as she was nicknamed for her beauty, is regarded among the Catholic saints as a paradigm of religious devotion. As a young girl, Rosa prayed and fasted daily, and performed severe penances in secrecy. Dismayed by her budding beauty that attracted the attention of many suitors, Rosa cut her hair short and marred her face; rejecting marriage and instead taking a vow of chastity, she lived much of her adolescence secluded in her room in daily prayer. She continued her ritual fasting and further abstained from eating meat altogether. Rosa wanted to become a nun, but her parents rejected her pleas; nonetheless when she turned 20 she devoted herself to the Third Order of St. Dominic and continued her commitment to the Lord. It is said that she slept only two hours each night to have more time for prayer and penance. She also took to wearing a heavy silver crown with spikes on the inside that at times pierced her flesh, resembling Jesus' Crown of Thorns. Upon her death at the age of 31—a death that she purportedly predicted—the Bishop of Lima extolled her great virtues and exemplary life as a model for all Christians.
Despite never having formally joined a convent, Santa Rosa is often pictured wearing a nun’s habit—a testament to her steadfast love and conviction. Here, dressed in the habit of her order, Rosa kneels before Virgin and Child in a tender moment of exchange; the Virgin Mary embraces the saint while she in turn offers the Christ child a rose. Beside her, more roses grow, while attendant angels and putti look down on the scene from the heavens. As the first Catholic saint born in the Americas, and of mixed race nonetheless, Santa Rosa is extolled at a level that rivals only that of the Virgin herself. Santa Rosa was so widely venerated throughout Spain’s territories abroad that she was named the Patron Saint of Peru and South America even before her canonization in 1671.