This army was a militia of charity; its commander-in-chief was Father Peter Claver, a Jesuit, the hero of our story. Aiding and abetting slavery was the inability of the European mind-set to process and receive and deem worthy the dignity of black skin. Clavers dearest benefactress, the Martha of his apostolate, Dona Isabel de Urbina, would prepare the dishes for these delightful festivals of charity. In teaching his pupils religion he loved to use pictures. The driver of the vehicle and a teacher were also killed in the incident around 3 pm. Top SEO sites provided "Novena to god the father" keyword . Nor did he cease consoling them with kind words and gestures, for the Negroes all had one beautiful trait in common; they were extremely sensitive to a harsh word or a kind one. Episode 362: Virgo Post Partum: A Married Virgin? One might call him, though I dont like the term, an ordinary boy- quite above the ordinary intellectually- a little below average personality-wise, though very likable and modest. Alphonsus intuited the capabilities of the young scholastic and saw in him a man fit for new, arduous and neglected work up to now unattended to, namely working among blacks in bondage. Unlike many, even among some of the clergy, Claver did not consider that ignorance of their African languages absolved him from the obligation of instructing them in the truths of religion and morals and bringing to their degraded spirits the consolation of the words of Jesus. He made use of the strangest instruments, such as bananas, and dates- the famous dates of Peter Claver,- whose miraculous power was heard as far away as Rome, and once even an ordinary soaked sponge. The ways of God seem hard at times. Through his prayer help us to see the true dignity of the human family, all children of one father and to spend ourselves for their salvation. Your sufferings are great, echoed the black-robed preacher, but not as great as you deserve. You are better off being a slave in America than a chief in Africa, he told them. Not long afterwards, at two oclock, while the assembled community invoked the names of Jesus and Mary, he sweetly surrendered his faithful soul to God. True! Immediately he set out to help them, taking with him a free Negress named Magdalena, who used to collect alms in the city for the saint to distribute. Thus the ordeal of being captured by another tribe, sold to European merchants, transported through a horrendous middle passage and ultimately enslaved as a marketable object in the New World -- these were events that were a radical rupture of ones entire spirit, soul and universe. St. Peter Claver, Spanish San Pedro Claver, (born 1581, Verd, Spaindied September 4, 1654, Cartagena, Colombia; canonized 1888; feast day September 9), Jesuit missionary to South America who, in dedicating his life to the aid of enslaved Africans, earned the title of "apostle of the Negroes." Cartagena, Colombia From whom does the devil want to divide Jesus? . In some cases, their terror was so grave that the victims hearts literally froze and they died from shock. They needed a voice to ease their burden, not to make it heavier with bitterness and anger. We have before us a most extraordinary saint- unquestionably the most extraordinary saint who ever walked this earth. Nor can the Africans themselves escape the blame. Thou gavest life, I pray no act of mine may take away or mar that gift of Thine (continues below). So also, must Gods servant be ut iumentum factus sum apud te.. Never had any of them been loved as this man had loved them. These kinds of individuals stood out from among the rest. Saint Melania, a wealthy Roman matron, freed her 8,000 slaves at once. Meanwhile some of his close friends would prepare a splendid repast of the best foods and delicacies, and while the orchestra performed, the jubilant lepers devoured a sumptuous banquet. He kept a strict account of each and every slave he baptized. 14-141). Take a virtual tour to learn the history of this beautiful church. He cured the sick almost routinely and there were times when he even raised the dead. 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. St. Peter Claver Parish in Tyler hosted the second-annual procession ceremony for the Lord of Miracles on Tuesday night. So zealous did he become after his conversion that he never ceased exhorting his ex co-religionist to enter the Catholic Church- outside of which, he told them no salvation could be hoped for. In due time the entire group of the imprisoned reformers followed the example of their spiritual leader and entered the Catholic Church with tremendous enthusiasm. Weeks would go by, before this floating mortuary would relinquish its infectious corpses to the ocean. St. Peter Claver Parish St. Peter Claver Catholic Church 485 W. Fourth St. Lexington, KY 40508 859-254-0030 SPC Liturgical Art & Environment Update Updated building July 2022 Due to construction on the St. Peter Claver Church property we have addressed the following issues: Yesterday, May 30, 1627, on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, numerous blacks, brought from the rivers of Africa, disembarked from a large ship. His order had already achieved amazing success in its missions, its schools, and in its ability to produce saints. To the masters and slave owners Claver appealed for physical and spiritual justice, for their own sakes no less than for that of their slaves. The slightest incentive from the slave hunters, whether it be tinkling bells or sparkling gems, would move tribal chief to wage petty wars for the sole purpose of selling their prisoners for such unworthy profit. But since his parents had dedicated Peter at birth to the ecclesiastical state, this tragedy only strengthened the youths conviction that he must not live for this world. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. The fleet of three galleons set sail on April 10, 1610. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud. His Lenten sermons were so moving that, due to them hundreds of young men, ex-libertines, and widowers, sought entry into the different orders that served the spiritual and corporal needs of the city. Often the English and French seawolves would prey on the Granadan coastline, firing cannon balls and wielding swords, looking for an opportune time to land and loot the city. Conflict sapped the strength of the European landscape and gave rise to a spirit hungering for new things, particularly, in the minds of the young. Though it was Gods will for our saint to be forgotten before he left this life, it was also His will that in death His humble servant be exalted. For this extraordinary Jesuit, whose life we are about to study, the arrival of a slave ship was like the homecoming of a long lost son. The walls of Cartagena silently echoed the solemn news as it was piously whispered in every corner, The Saint is dying! They knew he meant what he said and what he said was true. Because it is an excellent building material, miners started excavating the mountain some 1,000 years ago. Saint Peter Claver Church was established in 1931 to serve the African American community of greater Montclair, New Jersey. Everything to that time was old. He became a bishop and instituted a feast in honor of Our Ladys Immaculate Conception., He was the forty-eighth Pope. According to reports Medina faces up to 35 years to life in prison for the murder. In fact, he was the first Jesuit ordained in Cartagena. Protect Your Family Resources News VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE: Dismantling Systemic Racism in America February 27, 2023 In a second, a priest opened it. At long last, the pilgrim came home to his city, Cartagena. To protect themselves, the citys inhabitants, with the added muscle of the slaves, built huge sixty-foot-thick walls to repel such attacks. It seemed that the blacks under Father Claver were destined to keep the straight and narrow. The laws of Spain at least provided for the marriages of slaves, forbade their separation from their families and defended them from unjust seizure after winning their freedom. As a student, he was noted for his intelligence . The other priests would then carry him to his cell where, when he revived, the saint would refresh himself with a good scourging and some mental prayer. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. Before pouring the cleansing water, he would ask them three times in a loud voice if they wanted to become Christians. Occasionally Father Claver would be carried to a hospital, to minister to a dying prisoner, or other sick person, and once when a cargo ship arrived of slaves from a tribe which had not been seen in Cartagena for thirty years his old strength suddenly returned; he was taken around till he found an interpreter who spoke their tongue, then baptized all the children, and gave brief instructions to the adults. In every possible was he tried to help them, whether by procuring them good lawyers, or even by speaking to judges, in order to win them lighter sentences. On September sixth, two Negroes carried Father Claver to the chapel where he received Holy Communion with the devotion of a seraph. Many a despairing man who had been confined to bed due to the physical consequences of an irregular life would find the supernatural peace through the encouragement and charity of good Father Peter. There never was slavery more inhuman, more murderous and more complete over the souls as well as the bodies of its victims than what we have seen in our century in those countries swallowed up by the Communists. Printable Catholic Saints PDFs Every major feastday he would get together the great city band of Cartagena, and off they would go to perform for the lepers. To feel the bite of chains clasped upon them and to be shoved into the dark belly of a floating monster, not knowing what fate awaited them. Church law forbade a master to hold a slave who wanted to become a priest. So horrible was the scene and revolting the conditions that a friend who came with Father Claver once could never face it again, and of Father de Sandoval himself it was written in one of the diary entries of his Jesuit province that, when he (Clavers friend) heard a vessel of Negroes was come into port he was at once covered with a cold sweat and death-like pallor at the recollection of the indescribable fatigue and unspeakable work on the previous like occasions. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Food and water were given to each, and many had to be hand fed, so weak and sickly had they become. The Africans, themselves, profited by the use of slave labor; the Mohammedans made a religion of it; the Egyptian built their civilization by it; the Greek philosophers were left free to leisurely contemplate reality on account of it; the Romans conquered and disciplined the world through it; the Chinese built walls to keep out foreigners by it; Germans goose-stepped to it; the Hebrews of the Old Testament, though they had laws protecting slaves, profited by it; and the One-Worlders of our day would like to revive it, as they have been attempting to do on a world scale by their monetary power. But he found time to care for other sufferers besides slaves. Then, using our own cloaks, for they had nothing of this sort, and to ask the owners for others would have been a waste of words, we provided for them a smoke treatment, by which they seemed to recover their warmth and the breath of life. The school continued to be operated by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary following the . His Mass, which followed, was deliberately short. Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver of North America At the Service of the Missionary Church AN INTERNATIONAL CONGREGATION OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS Our Spirituality The most divine of divine things is to cooperate in the salvation of souls. In the summer of 1654, Father Diego Ramirez-Farina arrived in Cartagena from Spain with a commission from the king to work among the Negroes. The Jesuits were delighted to receive their new novice, as he had already merited for himself distinctive recognition for exceptional scholastic achievements at Barcelona. Spain brought a cease to trafficking in slaves in 1850. He became the prophet and miracle worker of New Granada, the oracle of Cartagena, and all were convinced that often God would not have spared the city save for him. It was 1602 when he entered their Novitiate in Tarragona. Oddly enough, these men whom Claver used as interpreters were his own slaves. To Claver, they were all important. 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