St. Peter Claver
Patron Saint of Negro Missions
1580 - 1654
St. Peter Claver was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, in 1580, of impoverished parents descended from ancient and distinguished families. He studied at the Jesuit college of Barcelona, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona in 1602 and took his final vows on August 8th, 1604. While studying philosophy at Majorca, the young religious was influenced by St. Alphonsus Rodriguez to go to the Indies and save "millions of perishing souls."
In 1610, he landed at Cartagena (modern Colombia), the principle slave market of the New World, where a thousand slaves were landed every month. After his ordination in 1616, he dedicated himself by special vow to the service of the Negro slaves-a work that was to last for thirty-three years. He labored unceasingly for the salvation of the African slaves and the abolition of the Negro slave trade, and the love he lavished on them was something that transcended the natural order.
Boarding the slave ships as they entered the harbor, he would hurry to the revolting inferno of the hold, and offer whatever poor refreshments he could afford; he would care for the sick and dying, and instruct the slaves through Negro catechists before administering the Sacraments. Through his efforts three hundred thousand souls entered the Church. Furthermore, he did not lose sight of his converts when they left the ships, but followed them to the plantations to which they were sent, encouraged them to live as Christians, and prevailed on their masters to treat them humanely. He died in 1654.
Copyright 1996-2000 Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.
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Happy feast day, st Peter Claver. I thank God for His boundless mercy on my family members. Grant good health to all of us. Dear Jesus, I love and thank you. Amen
St. Peter Claver, please pray for us to be on the right path always.
Yes, St. Peter Claver was an inspirational, compassionate saint who loved the downtrowen and poor slaves. I went to the Shrine of St. Joseph, St. Louis MO, and prayed last year for a special miracle. My son's house was near foreclosure and he was being divorced. It was in the very cold month of January, with frosty weather, and my family and I went to Mass and prayed for this house to be sold, as it was on the housing market for 14 months. The house was located in a very remote area in the country, in the woods, and was 12 miles out of town. Very few people came to see it while for sale. My son was living with us and very depressed. At the Shrine of St. Joseph, I prayed to St. Peter Claver while the relic held his bone and I light a votive candle at his statue and prayer for my son's house to be sold before it went into foreclosure. The very next month a couple from out of town, came into the area and bought the house...we all proclaimed it was a true miracle due to St. Peter Claver. God bless St. Peter Claver.
Thank you for the information on St Peter Claver. I am a convert from Protestantism and the Saints is one of the areas I have much to learn about. I am humbled by St Peter Claver's humility, compassion and mercy for the victims of the horrible slave trade. It gives rise to the question ,"now what?"..... The horrific attitudes that still linger in areas in our country, There is still much to be done to restore all Americans to their rightful place in our society. Slavery was and still is a horrible evil. This needs much prayer.
wow!!!! I an't even belive that!!! cool!!!!
this is the best saint ever because i like him, hese cool, and i dont now him.
Awesome Saint. The night before Sept 9 I had a dream. I was in a distant land in a store- hut building interviewing two black women about their products they had made for children. I recall asking them questions and writing down their responses and adding my favorable thoughts on their mission. The next day Sept 9th (today) I went to morning Mass and I learned about St Peter Claver. It was truly a blessing and I thank the Holy Spirit for revealing this to Saint to me.
St. Peter, your work is still needed even today, for though slavery has been abolished years ago, it still lives in the minds and politics of todays world. Help all those struggling in discriminatory positions to have grace and strength to overcome just as the African slaves finally overcame the struggles.
Amen
I had heard of the Knights of Peter Claver but didn't know much about this great saint until I read this page. Thanks for the information. What a great man he was. We should make his name and great works better known.
It is not vary often that we find such an epitomy written on many of the saints that exist. Being able to read the impact that they have had on the lives of others and sharing the love of Christ to its fullest gives hope that there are saints out there in todays world chosen by God to do the same things. In todays world we are slaves not of men but of sin and need the help of all the saints so that these chains of sin that bind us can be broken and allow us to be chained to the sacred heart of Jesus.
St. Peter Claver, I've seen a stained glass image of you in the Windhoek Cathedral, and often wondered about your life, but today I've read about your remarkable life. I truly feel inspired by the heroic life of service to the most vulnerable slaves of your time. Your devotion and dedication lasted a long lifetime, 33 years. I can imagine how sick, impoverished, malnourished and weak the poor slaves were when they arrived at the shores of Colombia, after having sailed in stinky boats. Only a Christ-like love could have motivated and sustained your loving service to them. I honour you on your feast day. I implore your loving intercession for all who are overworked, underpaid, and bullied. Pray also for vulnerable children who are born with afflictions, the bedridden who depend on help from caregivers. Pray for us who should be out there giving loving service to them. This I ask in Jesus name. Amen.
CANT WAIT TILL SEP 9th. FEAST DAY!
7th sept 2011:for the next few days the roman catholic church & the jesuits
will honor st peter claver.
i want to know his miracale i think this should be like facts like bullet point
.
*born in
*died in
something like that make it easyer to find thing about him
I had never heard about this great saint,,,to learn something about his inspiring life upliftst our spirit.,..it's so amazing his love and care for the African slaves from the very moment they arrived to Colombia...I'd pray asking his help for people who are are abused in any way by their masters. St Peter, I pray for my son Raúl and his co-workers who are being abused by their boss by asking them to work for 12 hours a day, sometimes including week-ends, they are so tired and unable to see their families that all of them are sick with stress. Please, good St. Peter, help them!! Thanks a lot.
This saint represents Jesus
This saint touches my heart because Im from Colombia. He is an old Mother Theresa centuries before and before that he is Jesus forgiving the slave masters. ?
He was a very compassionate man & knew the importance of human dignity. We can all learn from his life testimony. Dear Lord I pray we can all get closer to you by being more like saint Peter Claver and your Son JesusChrist who lives and reigns forever and ever...
"the principle slave market" should be spelled principal. principle means something else. otherwise, a fascinating write-up about a great catholic inspiration.
As a yound adult I attended Mass at the Shrine of St. Joseph in downtown St. Louis, MO. A miracle that was used as evidence for St. Peter Claver's canonization occured there in the early 1860s. I remember venerating a relic of St. Peter Claver to blessTo read more about it, see htttp://www.shrineofstjoseph.org/miracle.html.