In life, Rose Arveson was a woman who raised two daughters and endured hardships with grace and loved her namesake flower.

In death, the diminutive brunette became larger than life thanks to her devoted daughters, Pauline and Dorothy.

The sisters never married and lived together at the family home at 3540 W. Pikes Peak Ave., on Colorado Springs‘ west side.

They devoted their lives to preserving the memory of their mother and the miracles they attributed to her.

In fact, they claim six roses placed on Rose Arveson’s funeral casket in August 1963, wilted, dried and then rebloomed 10 days later. More miraculous than the resurrected roses were the healing powers of the rose petals.

The sisters became convinced their mother was a saint and petitioned the Vatican to have her recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Sainthood was denied. But the sisters were undeterred. They  built a shrine to her in their yard and declared her a saint, anyway.

The centerpiece is a large, open-air sanctuary featuring a marble-framed, hand-carved wood etching of Rose, seen below.

The etching and sanctuary sit at the top of the driveway, next to the modest ranch house where Rose lived with her daughters. Here’s another view of it.

You can reach the sanctuary by walking through the iron gate on Pikes Peak, past the statue of Christ with the plaque describing Rose and up the path.

Here’s the plaque on the statue:

People started coming to the shrine to pray and seeking healing. Here’s are a couple views of the neighborhood from FlashEarth:

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The shrine became world famous, thanks in part to publicity in tabloid newspapers like Weekly World News. Below is a story the tabloid ran in 1991:

The shrine’s popularity probably peaked in the 1980s, during the Reagan administration. Below is a letter the sisters received from the White House.

Today, the shrine is crumbling. The sisters have not been seen by neighbors for years. Only a man who is known as Jim is regularly seen around the place. But pilgrams still come and pray for help. A plastic tub holds literature written by Dorothy and Pauline as well as prayer requests from faithful.

Here is a seriously deteriorating statue along the path.+

Neighbors say they have not seen the sisters in several years.

Attempts to talk to Dorothy and Pauline were rebuffed by the mystery man. He said Dorothy was not able to talk at the time and suggested calling back. But he didn’t know when she might be able to talk.

He did not respond to questions about Pauline.

Based on past stories about the shrine, Dorothy is 79 today and Pauline is 81.

Unfortunately, records of births and deaths in Colorado are not open to the public so it was impossible to determine whether either woman is still alive. El Paso County property records show the property remains owned by Rose Arveson Simmons Shrine Inc.

There is evidence Pauline died April 10, 2008. The Social Security Administration’s online death registry reports Pauline R. Arveson died in El Paso County on that day.

And the Colorado Springs Police were called to the house the next day on a report of a body found, Lt. David Whitlock said. He described it as routine in the death of an elderly person.

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