Peter of Alcántara

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Roman Catholic Church
BeatifiedApril 18, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV
CanonizedApril 28, 1669 by Pope Clement IX
FeastOctober 19
AttributesFranciscan habit
PatronageBrazil, Eucharistic adoration, Extremadura, Pakil, Shrewsbury Cathedral

Peter of Alcántara, OFM (born Peter Garavita; Spanish: Pedro de Alcántara; 1499 – October 18, 1562) was a Spanish

canonized in 1669.[1]

Biography

He was born at

Province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of Alcántara, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. He decided to join the Franciscans at the age of 16 shortly after he was sent to university in Salamanca by his stepfather.[2]

Returning home, he became a

Observants.[3]

In 1538 Peter was made minister provincial of the Franciscan province of St Gabriel of Estremadura but resigned when his plans to enforce severe rules among the friars were opposed,

Barreiro. In 1560 these communities were erected into the Province of Arrábida.[3]

Returning to Spain in 1553 he spent two more years in solitude; then he journeyed barefoot to

Conventuals.[4] Friaries were established at Pedrosa, Plasencia and elsewhere; in 1556 they were made a commissariat, with Peter as Commissary
, and in 1561 a religious Province under the title of St Joseph. Not discouraged by the opposition and ill-success his efforts at reform had met with in St Gabriel Province, Peter drew up the constitutions of the new province with even greater severity. The reform spread rapidly into other provinces of Spain and Portugal.

The Miracle of Saint Peter of Alcantara by Giovanni Battista Lucini

In 1562 the Province of St Joseph was put under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Observants, and two new custodies were formed: St. John Baptist in

Valencia and St. Simon in Galicia (see Friars Minor). Francis Borgia once wrote to him: "Your remarkable success is a special comfort to me."[5]

In

reform of Carmel (see Carmelites) was in great measure due to his counsel, encouragement and defense. It was a letter from Peter (dated April 14, 1562) that encouraged her to found her first monastery at Avila, August 24 of that year. Teresa's autobiography is the source of much of our information regarding Peter's life, work, the gift of miracles and prophecy. According to Teresa of Ávila, it was a very common thing for him to take food only once in three days, and that sometimes he would go a week without eating.[5]

He was a man of remarkable austerity and poverty who travelled throughout Spain preaching the Gospel to the poor. He wrote a Treatise on Prayer and Meditation, which was considered a masterpiece by Teresa, Francis de Sales and Louis of Granada.[2][6][7]

While in prayer and contemplation, he was often seen in ecstasies and

levitation. In his deathbed, he was offered a glass of water which he refused, saying that "Even my Lord Jesus Christ thirsted on the Cross..." He died while on his knees in prayer on October 18, 1562 in a monastery at Arenas (now Arenas de San Pedro, Province of Ávila, Old Castile
).

Veneration

It is also said that Peter slept very little and that he always slept sitting up. Because he was awake most of the time when his brother friars were sleeping, he is the patron saint of night watchmen.[8]

Legacy

The apparition of Saint John of Capistrano to Saint Peter of Alcantara by Luca Giordano

Peter of Alcantara was

canonized by Pope Clement IX
on April 28, 1669.

In 1670, Peter of Alcantara's feast day was set as October 19, the day after his death, because in the

Traditionalist Catholics continue to observe versions of the General Roman Calendar of the 1670-1969 period, of which the 1960 version is incorporated into the 1962 Roman Missal that Pope Benedict XVI permitted to be used by all Latin Church priests for Masses without the people and, under the conditions indicated in article 5 of his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in Masses with the people.[11]

Peter of Alcantara is the

San Pedro de Alcántara in the province of Málaga
is named after him.

See also

References

  1. ^ Newcomb, Thomas (September 13, 1669). "London Gazette".
  2. ^ a b c ""St Peter of Alcantara", Diocese of Shrewsbury". Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
  3. ^ a b Reagan, Nicholas. "St. Peter of Alcántara." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 6 Aug. 2013
  4. ^ Butler, Alban. The Lives of the Saints, Vol.X (1866)
  5. ^ a b The Franciscan Book Of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, OFM, Franciscan Herald Press, 1959
  6. ^ Treatise on Prayer & Meditation; translated with an introduction and sketch of the saint's life by Dominic Devas, O.F.M.; together with a complete English version of Pax animae by John of Bonilla. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1926
  7. ^ A Golden Treatise of Mental Prayer; a new translation [by G. F. Bullock] edited by George Seymour Hollings. London: Mowbray, 1905
  8. ^ "St. Peter of Alcantara", Saints Resource, RCL Benziger
  9. ^ "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 143
  10. ISBN 88-209-7210-7
    )
  11. ^ Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum

External links

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