Sister Rose Liu's Story & Gallery
Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Rosa Liu was born in Hankou, Hubei, China. Sister Rosa decided she wanted to become a religious sister in her first year of high school. In 1932 Sister Rosa went to Wuchang in Hubei where FSPA had a school. She stayed there nine months teaching art and sewing. In 1933 she entered the St. Rose Convent located at St. Rose-on-the-Yangtze in Wuchang, traveling to St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wisconsin, shortly after. In 1936 she returned to China to minister as principal at St. Rose-on-the-Yangtze School until the invasion of communist troops forced the sisters to leave the mission in Wuchang. Sister Rosa taught for 30 years in Guam, China, Taiwan and Wisconsin before moving permanently to La Crosse.
She was a talented cook who, from time-to-time, made traditional Chinese meals that the sisters greatly enjoyed. Sister Rosa was also a talented artist, widely known for painting in oil and watercolor. She created a number of wall hangings and crafts from seashells and made greeting cards for the St. Rose Gift Shop. After retiring she was able to devote longer hours to painting and cultivating her artistic talents. In 1992 she finished an oil painting of Mary and Jesus working in a garden together. Sister Rosa explained her reasoning for the painting saying, “Mary was a poor woman, so she didn’t have time to sit around and hold her baby in a Madonna-like pose.” She worked as an artist from 1972 to 1978 in La Crosse until she retired, first to St. Rose Convent in 1978 and then to Villa St. Joseph in 1995. Sister Rosa Liu died at the Villa in 1996 at the age of 87.
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