Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is de Betancur and the second or maternal family name is Gonzáles.
spear canary pastor.[2]
PatronageCanary Islands, Guatemala, Central America, catechists of Guatemala, Honorary Mayor of municipalities in the south of Tenerife and Honorary Mayor of Antigua Guatemala, of the homeless and of those who serve the sick.

Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur (or Betancourt) y Gonzáles, OFB (Spanish: Pedro de San José de Betancur y Gonzáles, 21 March 1626– 25 April 1667), also called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt (Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur) or more simply Peter de Betancurt, Hermano Pedro (Brother Peter), Santo Hermano Pedro (Saint Brother Peter), or San Pedro de Vilaflor (Saint Peter of Vilaflor), was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala.

Known as the "Saint Francis of Assisi of the Americas", he is the first saint native to the Canary Islands. He left at the age of 23 for New Spain, and is considered the first saint of Guatemala and Central America for having done his missionary work in those American lands. He was the founder of Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem.

Biography

Betancourt was born at

Vilaflor on the Island of Tenerife in 1626, one of the five children of Amador Betancourt, a descendant of Jean de Béthencourt, the French knight and explorer who conquered the Canary Islands for King Henry III of Castile (1402-1405), and of Ana Gonzáles Betancurt.[3] In the 21st century it was learned that he had indigenous Guanche ancestry as well.[4]

As a small child, he worked as a shepherd, caring for his family's small flock, their only source of income. He also prayed in a small cave[5] near the present-day town of El Médano (municipality of Granadilla de Abona). When the father's estate was seized in 1638 by a moneylender for failure to pay debt, Betancourt was indentured to the man's service. During this period, his eldest brother, Mateo, migrated to Spain's colonies in the New World, possibly settling in Ecuador.

There are anecdotes about Betancourt's life in Tenerife, such as his practice of staying in a cave in El Médano in the south of the island. He used it as a seasonal winter refuge with his cattle, a place of prayer, and a shelter from

pirates
, who frequently raided the Canary Islands coast.

Vilaflor, Tenerife
.

In 1649, at age 23, Betancourt was freed from his period of indenture and decided to follow his brother to New Spain. He sailed to Guatemala,

Kingdom of Guatemala
, in hopes of connecting with a relative engaged in government service.

To New Spain

He left from the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is believed that Pedro, before leaving, prayed in the Church of San Francisco de Asís in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, because this was the church of the port and was popular among those who leaving for the New World.[6]

By the time he reached

Franciscan friars
to feed the poor. He eventually found his uncle, who helped him get a job in a local textile factory.

In 1653 Betancourt enrolled in the Jesuit College of San Borgia to study for priesthood. When after three years he could not master the material, he withdrew from the school

Blessed Virgin, he rented a house in a suburb of Calvary city. There he taught reading and catechism to poor children.[3]

Unable to receive holy orders, Betancourt became a Franciscan tertiary at the Franciscan friary of Costa Rica in Antigua Guatemala. He adopted the religious name of Peter of Saint Joseph. He visited hospitals, jails, and the unemployed, and worked with the young.

In 1658 Betancourt was given a hut which he converted into a hospital for the poor who had been discharged from the city hospital but still needed to convalesce.[7] His zeal elicited benefactions from those around him, and the bishop and governor supplied him with all the conveniences he required.[3]

Three years later several individuals provided for the purchase of the houses surrounding the one Betancourt occupied. A larger hospital was erected on this area. Betancourt also worked directly with the masons. Patrons thoroughly equipped and stocked the hospital.

This institution for the convalescent poor, was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Bethlehem. Soon after a shelter was developed for the homeless, a school for the poor,[8] an oratory, and an inn for priests.

The Bethlehemites

Church of San Francisco in La Antigua Guatemala.

Betancourt was joined by other tertiaries. He personally trained his first assistants and had no wish to organize a community, but simply to establish his hospital. Soon, however, he wrote up an adaptation of the

Franciscan
community.

Later years

Betancourt also extended his compassion to prisoners. Every Thursday he begged for them through the city and visited them in their cells. He begged for alms to endow the Masses celebrated by poor priests, and also endowed Masses to be celebrated in the early hours so that the poor might not miss Mass for having to go to work.[7] He would traveled the streets at night ringing a bell and recommending that souls in purgatory be prayed for.

Betancourt died on 25 April 1667, at the age of forty-one, in Antigua Guatemala. He was said to be exhausted by labour and penance. At the request of the Capuchin Friars, he was buried in their church. For a long time, his remains there were held in veneration.

Betancourt devoted his life to helping those marginalized: lepers, prisoners, slaves and Indians and served as precursor of

Human Rights.[9]

Veneration

Veneration at the tomb of Hermano Pedro in Antigua Guatemala, 1979.
Cave of Santo Hermano Pedro (Tenerife).

Betancourt's cause was formally opened on 6 August 1729, granting him the title of

Venerable on 15 July 1771,[10] and beatified
on 22 June 1980.

The healing of a child with an intestinal lymphoma was taken by the Catholic Church as the miracle required for his canonization. This child was a native of Betancourt's birthplace, Vilaflor.[11]

Betancourt was canonized on 30 July 2002 by Pope John Paul II. At the homily read by Pope John Paul in Guatemala City on 30 July 2002, Betancourt was called the "first Tenerifean and Guatemalan saint", and he "... personifies "a heritage which must not be lost; we should always be thankful for it and we should renew our resolve to imitate it".[12] John Paul II praised Betancourt for his humble spirit and austere life.[12]

Betancourt's tomb is in the

Vilaflor
.

His liturgical holiday is 25 April,

Peter the Apostle.[14]

Santo Hermano Pedro and the Canarian identity

The figure of Saint Peter of Betancur has been considered an identity symbol of Canarian culture. The Saint Peter appears in many stories of oral tradition, especially those linked to his pastoral and mystical activity in his cave located in the Chasna region in the south of Tenerife. These traditions have been given new layers of meaning over time and at the same time have been linked to the Canarian identity. The symbolic resonance of the figure of Saint Peter of Betancur is complex and multifaceted, and extends from being one of the most universal figures of the Canary Islands,[15] and to his status as the first native saint of the archipelago.

In some representations, the saint is symbolically synonymous with the Canarian religious culture itself, together with the Virgin of Candelaria, patron saint of the archipelago. In fact, among the canonized saints, Saint Peter of Betancur is the one usually used to represent the entire Canary archipelago.[16] This has caused him to be proposed in recent times by different political and religious authorities as a co-patron or secondary patron of the Canary Islands.[17][18]

The identification of the saint with the aboriginal past of the Canary archipelago also contributes to all this, as he himself is a descendant of the original aboriginal people and his connection to various activities typical of the

Guanche people, such as transhumance from coast to summit.[19] Among the iconographic elements What defines it in the Catholic saints is the Canarian shepherd's spear, which also has its origin in the aboriginal people of the islands.[2]
All these elements, among others, have made the figure of San Pedro de Betancur one of the main symbols of Canarian religious and cultural identity.

Legacy

Betancourt is considered the Apostle of Guatemala.

Kolkata
, India.

He is sometimes credited with introducing to the Americas, the

Mary and Joseph seek a night's lodging from their neighbors. The custom spread to Mexico and other Central American countries.[8]

Among other facets of his life, he was known for his defense of the Immaculate Conception, two centuries before it was declared as dogma, his devotion to the souls of Purgatory, and his penances.[21]

The historian David Vela, biographer of the saint, attributes to him the titles of "doctor in humility" and "wise in mercy".[22] He is also known as "the man who was charity".

See also

References

  1. ^ Mañana se celebra la onomástica del Hermano Pedro
  2. ^ a b Festividad de San Pedro de San José Betancur (Hermano Pedro), primer santo canario
  3. ^ a b c d Besse, Jean. "Bethlehemites." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 11 Sept. 2014
  4. ^ Genes aborígenes en el Santo Hermano Pedro
  5. ^ a b "Pedro Betancur", Saints Resource, RCL Benziger
  6. ^ Los tesoros de San Francisco se pierden
  7. ^ a b c "St Peter de Betancurt", Vatican
  8. ^ a b Foley OFM, Leonard. "St. Pedro de San José Betancur", Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons and Feast, (revised by Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan Media
  9. ^ Genes aborígenes en el Santo Hermano Pedro
  10. ^ a b Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 187.
  11. ^ El milagro de la canonización
  12. ^ a b Pope John Paul II, Homily on the Occasion of the Canonization of Brother Pedro de San Jose de Betancurt, Guatemala City, July 30, 2002
  13. ^ Pedro de San José Betancurt, Santo
  14. ^ Tres siglos y medio de devoción al Santo Hermano Pedro
  15. ^ El Santo Hermano Pedro: elenco y valoración de sus biografías. González Luis, José.
  16. ^ ¡Santos de España, interceded por nosotros!
  17. ^ Vilaflor solicita que el Hermano Pedro sea copatrón de Canarias
  18. ^ El Santo Hermano Pedro y un justificado copatronazgo del Archipiélago
  19. ^ Ruta del Hermano Pedro
  20. ^ Pedro de Betancurt, pedagogo y maestro en Guatemala. Un proyecto educativo popular en el siglo XVII
  21. ^ San Pedro de San José de Betancourt. Sitio web de las Siervas de los Corazones Traspasados de Jesús y María.
  22. ^ Directorio Franciscano. San Pedro de San José Betancur

External links

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