Like an angel of mercy, the black-robed friar would arrive at the colony with the gifts that he had begged in the market place: oranges, bananas, preserves, sweet cakes, and soothing medicines. With him were the merchant and some curious companions. Which had not? They then sent him to Barcelona for his theology studies and after two years were, at his further request, chosen to represent the province of Aragon at the mission of Spanish Jesuits being sent to New Granada. Claver greeted sinners and even served them. The slave ship, having been anchored in the harbor, suddenly had its hatch yanked open and the light of the sun flooded in upon the prisoners wretchedness. Hearing of their capture, Father Claver requested and received permission to visit the fleet and offer holy Mass for the Spanish soldiers. It was there, at Seville, while waiting to leave for New Granada, that the soon-to-be apostle of the Negroes first laid his compassionate eyes upon the suffering slaves. It behooves me, Claver once wrote, always to imitate the example of the ass. While he was studying philosophy at Majorca in 1605, Alphonsus Rodriguez, the saintly door-keeper of the college, learned from God the future mission of his young associate, and thenceforth never ceased exhorting him to set out to evangelize the Spanish possessions in America. He was sent there principally to recover his health, which had been seriously affected by the damp heat of Bogota; and also that his presence there might be an inspiration to the young novices, much as Rodriguez had been at Majorca. The fleet of three galleons set sail on April 10, 1610. The vicar general of the diocese officiated at the funeral. 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. Moved by the spirit of these encouragements and a missionary fervor, Peter Claver approached his provincial superior, offering himself for the West Indies and was told that his vocation would be decided in due course --by his superiors. By this time the slave trade had been established in the Americas for nearly a hundred years and the port of Cartagena was one of its principal centers, being conveniently situated as a clearing house for auctions and sales. They knew he meant what he said and what he said was true. That entire day our young hero was unable to shake off the experience and walked about as if he were not on earth. It was during these scourges that the holy mans heroic charity was such a spectacle for even the angels to behold. He stayed there in his confessional until midday. I am sorry for having offended Thee. Fruits, preserves, and sweet-cakes were distributed to give them strength, and wines and liquors were given them to numb their pain and drive out their extreme despondency. Father Claver was already known for strong discipline of his body. Church of Saint Peter Claver is located in West Hartford Connecticut In addition to celebrating the Eucharist, our various ministries include Black Catholic Concerns, Women's Fellowship in English and . Thank God, that for Father Claver the Church had her seasons and Lent didnt last forever! Saint Alphonsus was by occupation what Claver was by name. But Claver was not deterred, not even when the ecclesiastical authorities lent too willing an ear to the complaints of his critics. They came from villages where agriculture, farming and nature were at the center of life, where spirits dwelt in each thing around them, and where isolation was unthinkable since the self was always in relationship to others. Peter Claver was spiritually mailed to the Cross of Jesus in Cartagena. Those who were baptized looked beautiful and happy, while those who were not, looked ugly and were about to be gobbled up by hideous monsters from hell. With their help, he was able to teach the Gospel with words that could be understood. One poor prisoner, won to God by Father Claver, penned these pathetic words in his prayer book after receiving the death sentence: This book belongs to the happiest man in the world. We asked them to make an act of contrition and to manifest their detestation of their sins. To protect themselves, the citys inhabitants, with the added muscle of the slaves, built huge sixty-foot-thick walls to repel such attacks. For here dwelt the living dead- the very pit of human misery. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. It was reckoned that there would be a loss in each cargo by death during the six or seven weeks voyage of a least a third. Peter Claver was born in 1581 to a devout farming family in the Catalonia region of Spain. 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. Sometimes, Claver would spend almost the entire day in the great square of the city, where the four principal streets met, preaching to all who would stop to listen. Shelter those, dear Lord, who bear my company from the evils of fire and all calamity.Teach me to use my car for others need; Nor miss through love of undue speed. The fathers immediately took him to a more suitable room than his own cell to recuperate. Oddly enough, these men whom Claver used as interpreters were his own slaves. Claver would never recover from this illness. Or, again, with women who were in a habit of dressing immodestly, excusing themselves on account of the excessive heat, he would hand them pictures of a woman similarly garbed amid the torments of the fire and demons in hell. Africa was literally exploding in violence. 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. After these preliminaries, there followed a most pathetic scene. The avaricious smiled, the humane shuddered and walked away, and the curious were glad to have new opportunity to do what they do. And the saint prayed hard. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. very silent and reserved. Fr. They thought that their blood was going to be used to dye the ships sails, and that their fat to grease her keel. The tortured body of Father Claver, which the saint never ceased to submit to the hairshirt and discipline, could barely contain the ghost. Lifting his hands, they watered them with tears, crying out that they had lost their greatest friend and protector. St. Peter Claver (1580-1654) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to Latin America. So Claver gave it none- except what was absolutely necessary to sustain life. The Catholic Church enjoyed an uneasy peace throughout Europe in the 1600s. 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. According to reports Medina faces up to 35 years to life in prison for the murder. Father Claver applied himself for seven long years to the slave apostolate before he took his final vows in the Society. Episode 361: Whether God Exists? the Five Proofs, The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Outside the Church there is no Salvation (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus), Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire, Brother Francis, M.I.C.M. Six abandoned pagans from Biafara were lying in a shed, suffering from violent dysentery. Claver was buried in the floor off the sacristy of the chapel of the Jesuit residence. In particular, he had a relish for good music, and believe it or not, he was especially fond of a new palatal delight called chocolate; however, lest you chocolate lovers get overconfident, the first time he tasted the sweet was his last. Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. St. Peter Claver was canonized in 1888. Few saints carried out their active work in more repulsive conditions than did Claver, but these privations were not enough; in accordance with the popular pious practices of Catholics of that time Claver was known to continuously use penitential instruments of a severe description and would pray alone in his room with a crown of thorns pressed to his head and a heavy cross weighing down his shoulders. They were packed together like sardines in a can, left to wallow in their own sweat, vomit, urine and human waste. 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. Here he would find them some kind of shelter and nurse them, bringing them food and medicine. To Claver, the poorest of the poor were truly the least of His brethren and heirs to a kingdom not of this world. The slave of the slaves believed in simplicity. I love Thee very much, and he would have them repeat it many times over, I love Thee much, very, very much, while striking their breasts, his face and theirs bathed in tears. Claver treated their needy souls almost the same way he treated afflicted bodies. Nor can we overlook the heroic work of the eight Jesuit martyrs of North America, who were contemporaries of our South American saint, as were all the above mentioned, except for Francis Xavier. Another saint whom he had known at school in Majorca, Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, revealed his road in life to him. At fourteen, he left home to pursue his vocation at the college in Barcelona. The priest watched as the saint caressed the ulcerous patient like a mother, and then put his lips to the most pestiferous of his sores. Sitting on a rock, he would put his cloak over their shoulders, if it was cold, and hear their confessions. I love thee much. RIVERVIEW QLD 4303 College Reception Hours. To me it is a miracle ! The joy in their eyes as they looked at us was something to see. The religious there used to say that their welcome friend, Father Claver, did the work of forty men. So ugly was the business that eventually Englands conscience was so bothered by it that Great Britain abolished the slave trade in 1815 while America continued it for another fifty years, till Emancipation of the slaves by its 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Since I am a bad priest, God no longer desires my services. Peter Claver, the man of action, was struck with a condition of almost total paralysis. Across the sea a ship arose on the horizon. People who truly love God never put on artificial airs of piety, folding their hands and bowing their heads, while they shun sinners as if they were to be despised. He cured the sick almost routinely and there were times when he even raised the dead. Thousands pressed forward to touch their Rosaries, linens, and medals to his hands and to his feet, which were left uncovered. In the hospital of Saint Sebastian Claver was also able to convert back to the Faith many Dutchmen who had been badly wounded in battle. Nor could anyone console him until he had restored the interpreter to health. But it was not without the greatest difficulty, combined with some serious physical aggressiveness, that the sons of Saint Ignatius (with the help of the sons of Saint Augustine), strove to prevent the swelling crowds from literally tearing the saint apart in their efforts to procure relics. ST. PETER CLAVER CATHOLIC CHURCH Rev. I was able to track down the . Amen This last mentioned convict was executed by strangulation. I never heard him complain. Leo Landoll stood at the altar of God and spoke the words of consecration and for the first time Jesus Christ, body and soul became present in a small white church that had recently been a private home. Cartagena was hit with five major epidemics during Clavers apostleship (1615-1654). Overcome with nausea, the admiring priest had to leave the room, but despite his own weakness, he never ceased praising the heroic virtue of Claver, publicizing it even in Rome. The animal took him swiftly all right when, for some strange reason (some witnesses felt the horse was temporarily bewitched), the gentle horse suddenly bolted, galloping wildly through the streets. His Mass, which followed, was deliberately short. Herbs, potatoes, a little rice, or a banana made up his diet; a mat on a board with a log for a pillow made up his bed; only three hours of the night were occupied in an attempt at rest; and then there were his penances. Baptism was received with such an emotion of joy as to move the hardest heart. All of them died on the spot. He embraced lepers, kissed cancerous lesions, sucked out poison from running ulcers, washed the unclean and dined in their unsightly hovels, nor did he refrain even from eating food some despairing suicidals had rejected from their own mouths, in his determination to gain their confidence. How beautifully did his words echo on their souls as he spoke to them of the infinite value of their cross if only they should bear it with joy and patience. The young student at Barcelona decided to do more than just to benefit from the Jesuits education. All he did for the ancestors aligned him with the God of love. Such demonic phenomena were not uncommon among the uncivilized races. St Peter Claver College. 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. The descendant of these six hundred English and Dutch converts can be seen to this very day in their blond-haired, blue-eyed progeny whom one may see walking the streets of Cartagena. Our Present . Three . While he was studying philosophy at Majorca in 1605, Alphonsus . The miracles, the sermons, the labors in the confessional, the work with all the poor and the sick, the charity for all the Negroes, seemed to be temporarily forgotten by all as the saint silently prayed for death to come. Lima in Peru had five- Saint Rose, Saint Francis Solano, Saint Martin de Porres, Saint Turibius, and Saint John Massias. 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. But, if some disadvantaged Negro in now in heaven, because this tyrannical Father Claver made an occasion of sin less available to him, and, on the other hand, some Spaniard is burning forever in hell because luring near occasions were for him more accessible, you be the judge who was the more fortunate. The soil of Clavers soul was fertile and moist. And though death should have come much sooner than it did for a man who had trodden on danger as one would on rose petals, it finally began to move on him mercilessly. The St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church records house the institutional records of the St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His loving solicitude for these co-laborers was so great that if any of them fell sick he would give them his own bed, while he slept on the floor next to the sick man, so that he might be able to wait on him continually. It came very slowly. One by one, having covered them with his own cloak, carried them from the boat to wheeled carts parked on the dock for the purpose of transporting the invalids to some miserable shanties. It could be a supply boat with some long-awaited news from back home in Spain, or it might be a slave ship, or even an enemy man-of-war. There were times when he even raised the dead with it. You can add to these the faded and worn cloak of Saint Peter Claver. Kindly pray for their departed Souls and their bereaved family. His fellow Jesuits, having been reduced to an extreme poverty, were so busy with their individual responsibilities that days would pass without anyone even visiting him. St. Peter Claver Church was established in the early 1900s, after Black parishioners experienced racism from white Catholics at a nearby church. Home - Knights of Peter Claver Spreading FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE through Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity Our Faith What you Need to Know Online Store Register Now! One thing the Negroes had a craving for was dancing. Claver felt as if the Holy Ghost had descended on them as He had at Pentecost. Strangely enough, when the man saw the saint he called out to him, Oh my Father! . PETER CLAVER, PRIEST. Community Redevelopment Agencies have proven historically to provide distressed communities with a better economy through improved infrastructure . What! One can hear the experts on the psychology of the underprivileged gasp- How dare he arouse guilt complexes with these victims of white racism!. He did such things not once, not twice, as some saints have done, but nearly every day for forty long toilsome years.Claver took care of Negro slaves. Spain brought a cease to trafficking in slaves in 1850. The son of a Catalonian farmer, was born at Verdu, in 1581; he died 8 September, 1654. 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. But for every chore he performed, whether it was sweeping the floors, changing linens, washing clothes or dishes, or cooking, the visiting Jesuit, in his humility, always first asked permission of the Superior. His religious profession was written with his own hand and signed thus, Peter Claver, slave of the slaves, forever. That forever meant thirty more years of a grueling monotony, the accomplishments of which would have sufficed to fulfill the lives of ten apostles. The major contagion was smallpox; but others. Amen. Protect Your Family Resources News VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE: Dismantling Systemic Racism in America February 27, 2023 The girls' school, called the St. Joseph's School For Girls (or the Spanish Indian Residential School for Girls), relocated to a 400-acre piece of land next to the St. Peter Claver School in Spanish, Ontario, in 1913; construction of St. Joseph's would not be completed until the following year, however.. He drew them by his humility and his Christlikeness. 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. The holy man had no time to lose. Before parting from his beloved teacher, Claver was given a unique privilege, a privilege not granted to any other student, of keeping the spiritual notes that Brother Alphonsus had personally written for him. The holy man seemed to touch everyone. FOR THE FEAST DAY OF ST. PETER CLAVER. His apostolate was over, and dark thoughts tried to upset his peace he was useless, a burden to others, and deservedly was cast aside by God. That; they had been brought across the ocean to be freed from their slavery to the devil, and to learn the way to everlasting happiness. Guest: Sister Maria Philomena, M.I.C.M. Not a few fellow slaves were converted from Islam by the beautiful liturgical services and heavenly hymns that were sung at the funeral of a baptized Negro. Shortly after midnight, on the feast of Our Ladys Nativity September 8th, his face, which had the aspect of one ravished in God, suddenly took on the features of a man utterly exhausted. Silently, with watery eyes, they picked up the saint and laid him to rest.Months later, a certain Mohammedan whom Father Claver had spent years trying to convert, walked into the Jesuit Church where the body of the saint lay in repose, and falling down before the Saints remains, shed tears of sorrow and promised to enter the true Church. We must speak to them with our hands before we speak to them with our lips.. Slavery evolved into legalized discrimination and segregation in the so-called democratic experiment. 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. He shortly afterwards heard the confession of Doa Isabella, and told her it was for the last time, and on September 6, after assisting at Mass and receiving holy communion, Claver said to his dear friend, Brother Nicholas Gonzalez, I am going to die. 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