Pilgrimage to Santa Rosa de Quives, 6 March 2011

Santa Rosa de Quives is a village in the mountains outside Lima. It houses the national shrine to Santa Rosa, the first canonized saint of the Americas. Rosa died at the young age of thirty-one and seven of those years – nearly a quarter – were spent in Quives where her father was sent to administer a mine for precious stones.
View of valley from Quives

Rosa's house is a small solidly-built stone house consisting of basically two rooms with a small part sectioned off at the back of one room as Rosa's prayer cell.










Rosa's house












The shrine decked with garlands from brides married in the chapel where Rosa was confirmed

The stone she used to recline on when praying

Quives can be extremely hot and is renowned for its mosquitoes, therefore, despite my eagerness to be present at Sunday Mass in the chapel where Rosa was confirmed by the second Archbishop of Lima in 1596, I felt the need to brace myself for a day of mixed trials and blessings.

There is as yet only one small road to Quives. To reach this road, it is necessary to go into the vast, sprawling suburb of Comus, an extremely poor district of Lima which is littered with piles of rubbish and is very barren and dusty. Once out of Comus, we began the long painfully slow ascent to Quives. We had allowed about four hours for the journey, but the road was so full of potholes and its surface so bumpy, that Sr Clara was obliged to drive with great caution and we began to wonder if we would arrive in time for midday Mass. In the event we made excellent time, arriving at eleven.

The mountain road, despite its shortcomings as a highway, leads through gorgeous picturesque scenes. The valley below is watered by the River Chilloñ and is quite lush.

View from Quives looking down into the valley below

The shrine occupies a large area and is enclosed by an iron pallisade put in place by Vincentian Fathers. In addition to Rosa's house and the chapel, there is a large retreat house. Sr Clara brought a group of forty young people in the past for a retreat here and said it was excellent. On the day of our visit, sadly, we were all sorry to see how neglected and poorly maintained the site is, probably because there is now no group of religious living there.

Srs Anne, Rose and Clara outside the Chapel where Rosa was confirmed.

Chica de Jora stall just outside the sanctuary - a refreshing local drink made from maize and wheat

Flowers in the village

A goat on her knees in the grounds of the sanctuary - perhaps in prayer?

The Priest who said Mass for us blessing someone's new car after the Mass

Sr Anne kindly treated us for lunch in one of the semi-open-air restaurants that serve pilgrims and visitors. I was privileged to try a Pachamanca, a Peruvian speciality prepared by burying the meats in the earth to cook on hot stones. The meats were served with potatoes cooked in their skins, corn on the cob, broad beans and finely sliced onions garnished with lemon-juice. It was a great feast. We were advised to share one between us, but even so there was so much left over that we had enough for Monday's lunch!

Brigid, Sr Clara and Sr Anne at lunch

I had anticipated a day of both great blessings and challenges. This turned out to be so, but not in the way I had thought. I expected extreme heat, but we were blessed with lovely coolish, breezy air. It was not at all hot or uncomfortable. I had expected to be plagued with mosquitoes even if we used repellent, but apart from one little bite at the beginning of the journey (Brigid), and one on arrival (Clara), we were remarkably free from insect trouble. Finally, the joy of praying in the very place where Santa Rosa lived her formative years and took the name of Rosa at confirmation outweighed any small inconveniences.

Sr Rose sitting on the wall outside the sanctuary with the view from Quives behind

by Sr. Rose of Lima