ROSA of VITERBO, Saint. — Born in Viterbo, where she spent her brief life, most probably between 1233 and 1251.
She lived the greater part of her 18 years in concealment within her humble family, at a time when Viterbo was afflicted by the heresy of the Patarines and by political factions. In the summer of 1250, having been miraculously healed from a serious illness, following a vision of the Madonna she wished to be clothed in the habit of a Franciscan tertiary. After a brief period of preparation in prayer and meditation on the Passion of Christ, she began to traverse the streets of Viterbo with a sacred image in hand, publicly praising the names of Jesus and Mary and inviting all to attend the churches. This act aroused the anger of the heretics, some of whom obtained from the podestà, who governed the city in the name of Emperor Frederick II, an order that the Saint, together with her parents, be expelled on 4 December 1250, in the depths of winter. She then reached Soriano al Cimino, and, after the death of Frederick II in those days (13 December), passing through Vitorchiano, she returned to Viterbo, from which she did not depart until her death, which befell her a few months later in her father’s house, having vainly sought admission among the Poor Clares. The fame of her sanctity and miracles led to her body being transferred from the church of Santa Maria to that of the nuns, and to Innocent IV, on 25 November 1252 in Perugia, ordering the opening of the process of canonization. This was not brought to completion; nor did the one opened in 1457, at the behest of Callisto III, lead to the desired canonization. Saint ROSA was, however, venerated as a saint in her city, by the Franciscan Order, and by some popes (cf., for example, the letter of Pius XII for the seventh centenary of Saint ROSA, 25 February 1952); her name was inserted into the *Roman Martyrology* by Baronius, and churches, altars, and public honors were erected and attributed in her name. Her feast is celebrated on 6 March, and the translation of her body on 4 September.
Pio Paschini
FOLKLORE. — Two annual festivals are celebrated in Viterbo in honor of Saint ROSA, the city’s patroness: one has a strictly ecclesiastical character, on the day of her death (6 March); the other, popular and more solemn, on 4 September, in memory of the translation of her body. On the evening of 3 September, a vast structure resembling a bell tower, with a wooden frame and an exterior of cloth or cardboard, over 20 meters high and richly decorated and painted, at the summit of which the statue of the Saint shines amid torches and candles, is carried through the streets of the city on the shoulders of 62 porters known as the “knights of Saint ROSA,” dressed in white with a red sash at the waist and a white tuft on their heads. Having remained in seclusion that morning, before beginning the triumphal procession they receive the bishop’s blessing and visit five churches, praying that all may proceed without mishap (the falling or burning of the structure is considered an omen of disaster: this occurred, for example, in 1801 and 1815, with deaths and injuries). Upon reaching the square of the monastery of Saint ROSA, the massive structure is set upon trestles amid the applause, cheers, and emotion of the crowd that has devoutly followed II. Orchestras, races, jousts, illuminations, and fireworks enliven the festival, which concludes on 5 September with a poetic competition organized by the Accademia degli Ardenti to celebrate the praises of ROSA. The use of the structure dates back to 1656, by vow of the people of Viterbo following a terrible pestilence, and the first procession took place in 1657; the designs for the construction, chosen by competition, vary each year and are preserved in the municipal picture gallery (the oldest known is that of 1690). From a folkloric perspective, the structure is a symbol of strength, protection, and prayer, akin to other popular manifestations such as the lilies of Nola, the candles of Gubbio, and the cart of Saint Rosalia in Palermo.
On the occasion of the festival of 6 March, the faithful are given mementos of the Saint—roses, small flowers, and saplings, which tradition holds grew from her tomb, or fragments of her coffin and clothing—believed to possess special curative powers against fever or headache; water is also attributed with such virtues.
ROSA of VITERBO – GOLDEN ROSE
The name “Rose of the Rosy Cross” (Rosenkreutz) is also borne by a legendary figure in the history of the Rosicrucians. The first of these books contained violent attacks against the papacy; it recounted the adventures of a Christian Rosenkreutz (Rosy Cross), born in 1388, who, during travels in Palestine and Egypt, was said to have been initiated into the occult sciences. Upon his return to his homeland, he allegedly chose seven companions and founded with them the Brotherhood of the R.C., whose members were to undertake great journeys and then reunite once a year. The league was to remain secret for a hundred years. Its purpose was the general reformation of the world and it drew inspiration from the seven sages of Greece and certain Roman philosophers.
It seems that the author of these novels intended nothing more than to ridicule the contemporary craze for the marvelous. But such books were taken seriously; mystics and alchemists set out in search of the Order of the R.C., which proved untraceable. Faced with such credulity, even Andrea declared that the aforementioned memoirs of Rosenkreutz were nothing but fables; but in vain. The Lutherans accused the Calvinists of having attempted a maneuver against Lutheranism.
Despite all opposition, Germany was flooded with purported manuscripts of Rosenkreutz; the movement also spread to France: in 1623, a manifesto was affixed in Paris announcing the arrival of the R.C., “saviors of the world.” The French bibliographer Gabriel Naudé (1600-1653) wrote against them in *Instruction à la France sur la vérité de l’histoire de la Rose-Croix*, but failed to halt the movement.
The order of the R.C. developed especially by adopting the methods of Paracelsus. Among those remembered as Paracelsian Rosicrucians were fervent followers such as Henning Scheunemann, physician of Bamberg; the Protestant preacher Johann Grabmann, who sold a mixture of cucumber and ground roses as a remedy for all ailments; Julius Sperber, physician of Anhalt; Heinrich Khunrath, physician of Hamburg; and Michael Maier, physician to Emperor Rudolph II and Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. The 18th century was thus inundated with charlatans, Rosicrucian alchemists, astrologers, and “miracle doctors” of every kind. The internal organization of the Rosicrucian sect remained secret. It is believed that the brethren occupied themselves with Cabala and alchemy, seeking the art of transmuting metals and prolonging human life. The Rosicrucians claimed that the end of the world was near, but that the world would be renewed under their guidance.
In the 18th century, the name “Rosicrucian” was applied to all illuminati who claimed to have secret relations with the invisible world. It was sometimes wished to include in this category the illuminati of the time: Saint-Germain, Cagliostro, Mesmer, Saint-Martin; though it is not proven that they belonged to the Rosicrucians, who by then, moreover, had declined. Freemasonry, however, had usurped the title of Rosicrucian, making it a degree of Masonic initiation, the seventh in the French rite and the eighteenth in the Scottish rite.
In the 19th century the title of R. was reserved for dignitaries of Freemasonry, when a group of young writers—Stanislao de Guaita, Barlet, Paolo Adamo Papus, Péladan—announced in 1888 their intention to renew the cabalistic order of the R. Soon afterwards Giuseppe Péladan broke away from his friends because of their anticlericalism and founded the “Salon catholique de la Rose-Croix.” He styled himself Sâr Péladan: b. at Lyons in 1858, d. at Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1918. Besides several highly sensual novels and aesthetic works, he published, as an R.: *Comment on devient un mage* (1892); *Comment on devient fée* (1893); *L’occulte catholique* (1898); *La règle de l’Ordre de Rose-Croix* (1903). These are mainly aesthetic, idealistic, often bizarre researches.