orig. Isabel de Flores
born April 20/30, 1586, Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru
died Aug. 24, 1617, Lima; canonized April 12, 1671; feast day August 23, formerly August 30
Patron saint of Peru and all of South America, the first person born in the Western Hemisphere to be canonized by the Roman Catholic church.
Born to a wealthy family, she joined a Dominican order in 1606, overcoming her mother's objections. She went into seclusion in a hut in the family garden, where she lived with great austerity, fasting, wearing a crown of thorns, and sleeping on a bed of broken glass. She experienced many visions, particularly of the Devil. Only in her last three years did she leave her seclusion. Many miracles were reported after her death.