Peter of Alcántara OFM | |
|---|---|
 Saint Peter of Alcántara,painted wood sculpture byPedro de Mena (1628) | |
| Friar, Mystic | |
| Born | 1499 Alcántara,Spain |
| Died | 18 October, 1562 (aged 62-63) Arenas de San Pedro,Spain |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | April 18, 1622 byPope Gregory XV |
| Canonized | April 28, 1669 byPope Clement IX |
| Feast | October 19 |
| Attributes | Franciscan habit |
| Patronage | Brazil,Eucharistic adoration,Extremadura,Pakil,Shrewsbury Cathedral |
Peter of Alcántara, OFM (bornPeter Garavita;Spanish:Pedro de Alcántara; 1499 – October 18, 1562) was a SpanishFranciscanfriar who wascanonized in 1669.[1]
Peter was born atAlcántara,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 aFranciscan friar of the Stricter Observance in the friary at Manxaretes,Extremadura, in 1515. At the age of 22 he was sent to found a new community of the Stricter Observance atBadajoz. He was ordained apriest in 1524, and the following year was appointedGuardian of the friary of St. Mary of the Angels at Robredillo,Old Castile. A few years later he began preaching with much success. He preferred to preach to the poor; hissermons, taken largely from theProphets andSapiential Books, breathe the tenderest human sympathy. At the time Peter entered the Order, the reform of the "Discalced Friars" consisted of theCustody of the friaries in Spain and Santa Maria Pietatis in Portugal, all subject to theMinister General of theObservants.[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,[2] and he retired withSt. John of Avila into the mountains ofArrábida inPortugal, where he joined Friar Martim de Santa Maria in a life oferemitical solitude. Soon, though, other friars came to join him, and several little communities were established. Peter was chosen guardian andmaster of novices at the friary of Palhais,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 toRome and obtained permission ofPope Julius III to found some poor friaries in Spain under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of theConventuals.[4] Friaries were established atPedrosa,Plasencia, and elsewhere; in 1556 they were made acommissariat, with Peter ascommissary, 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 drafted the constitutions of the new province with even greater severity. The reform spread rapidly into other provinces of Spain and Portugal.
In 1562 the Province of St. Joseph was placed under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Observants, and two new custodies were formed: St. John the Baptist inValencia and St. Simon inGalicia (seeFriars Minor).Francis Borgia once wrote to him that "your remarkable success is a special comfort to me."[5]
InSt. Teresa of Ávila Peter perceived a soul chosen by God for a great work, and her success in thereform of Carmel (seeDiscalced Carmelites) was in great measure due to his counsel, encouragement, and advocacy. It was a letter from Peter, dated April 14, 1562, that encouraged her to found her first monastery inAvila,Spain on August 24 of that year. The autobiography of St. Teresa is the source of much of the extant information on Peter's life, work,gift of miracles, and prophecy. According to St. Teresa, it was very common for him to eat only once in three days, and sometimes he would pass 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 aTreatise on Prayer and Meditation, which was considered a masterpiece by St. Teresa,St. Francis de Sales, andVen. Louis of Granada.[2][6][7]
While in prayer and contemplation, he was often seen in ecstasies andlevitation. On 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 (nowArenas de San Pedro,Province of Ávila,Old Castile,Spain).
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]
Peter of Alcantara wasbeatified in Rome byPope Gregory XV on April 18, 1622, andcanonized byPope 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 theGeneral Roman Calendar October 18 was the feast of SaintLuke the Evangelist. The1969 revision of that calendar omitted his name because of what it saw as the limited importance of the feast on a worldwide level, while at the same time it expressly envisaged its inclusion in local calendars.[9] His feast could thus be moved to his day of death, October 18, which is now its official date.[10] SomeTraditionalist Catholics continue to observe versions of the General Roman Calendar of the 1670-1969 period, of which the 1960 version is incorporated into the 1962Roman Missal thatPope Benedict XVI permitted to be used by allLatin Church priests for Masses without the people and, under the conditions indicated in article 5 of his motu proprioSummorum Pontificum, in Masses with the people.[11]
Peter of Alcantara is thepatron saint of nocturnaladoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1826, he was named patron saint ofBrazil, and in 1962 (the fourth centenary of his death), of the Spanish region ofExtremadura. He is also venerated as patron saint of various parishes in the United States and the Philippines. The town ofSan Pedro de Alcántara in the province ofMálaga is named after him.
