Brief Summary Of St. Peter Claver's Life

Saint Peter Claver was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain. He was born on June 26, 1581. He studied first at the Jesuit college of Barcelona. Claver always carried around a notebook that he wrote, “ I must dedicate myself to the service of God until death, on the understanding that I am like a slave. He entered into the Jesuit Novitiate at Tarragona in 1602. When Claver entered the Society of Jesus he was twenty years old. He studied philosophy at Majorca after taking his final vows on August 8th, 1604. St. Peter Claver was heavily influenced by St. Alphonsus Rodriguez to go to the Indies and save “millions of perishing lives.” St. Alphonsus Rodriguez learned from God the future mission of St. Peter Claver in America. Peter landed at Cartagena, modern day Columbia, in 1610. Cartagena was the principle slave market of the New World. Thousands of slaves landed at Cartagena each month. In 1616, after his ordination, St. Peter Claver dedicated himself by a special vow to the service of the African slaves. He would fight for the rights of the slaves for forty years. Claver while working in his ministry personally baptized 300,000 people. During his time in ministry, Claver would preach to the sailors and traders trying to get …show more content…
Peter Claver’s last years he was too ill to get out of his room. He was sick for four years, he was forgotten and physically abused and starved by and ex-slave. The ex-slave had been hired by the Superior of the house to care for him. Claver never complained, he just accepted as a result for his sins. He died on September 8, 1654. After people in Cartagena heard of St. Peter Clavers death, they tried to visit and pay their final respects. They would also take anything that was the saints for it to become a relic. Peter Claver became the patron saint of slaves. His feast day is September 9. Claver was canonized on January 15, 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. Claver also has a church dedicated to him in Cartagena where his bones are still to this