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Also known as: Telmo;
Elmo; Erasmus; Peter Gonzalez; Pedro Gonzalez; Pietro Gonzalez
Profile
Castilian nobility who mis-spent a worldly youth. Educated by his uncle,
the bishop of Astorga, Spain. Priest, primarily as a step to high office.
Obtained special papal dispensation to become Canon of Palencia when he
was officially still too young. During a grand Christmas Day entrance into
the city, his horse was spooked by the noise of the crowds. It threw him
in all his finery onto a dung-heap, much to the delight of the citizens
who knew his was a political, not a spiritual appointment.
Dazed, filthy, humiliated, and with the undeniable understanding that his
parishioners thought he was a hack, he withdrew from the world for a
period of prayer and meditation. It worked. He had a true conversion
experience and spent the rest of his life making up for his lost youth and
the mockery he made of his position. Joined the Dominicans. Family and
friends tried to draw him back to his old life and their planned pursuit
of position, but he responded, "If you love me, follow me! If you cannot
follow me, forget me!"
Confessor and court chaplain to King Saint Ferdinand III of Castile.
Against the opposition of more worldly courtiers, he reformed court life
around the king. Worked for the crusade against the Moors, accompanied
Ferdinand into the battlefields, and then worked for humane treatment of
Moorish prisoners.
A favorite of the king, Peter feared the honors and easy life would lead
him to a return to his previous ways, so he left the court and evangelized
to shepherds in the hills, along the waterfronts, and among Spanish and
Portuguese sailors who still venerate him and consider him their special
patron, blending his story with that of Saint Elmo, and calling upon him
for protection in the face of bad weather.
Legend says that when he lacked food for those in his charge, he would
kneel and pray by a river; fish would leap onto the banks.
Born: 1190 at Astorga, Spain
Died: 15 April 1246 at Saintiago de Compostella, Tuy; buried in the
cathedral at Tuy
Beatified: 1254 by Pope Innocent IV
Canonized: 1741 by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed)
Patronage: boatmen, mariners, sailors, watermen
Representation: Dominican
holding a blue candle or a candle with a blue flame; Dominican lying on
his cloak which is spread over hot coals; Dominican holding fire in his
bare hands; Dominican catching fish with his bare hands; Dominican beside
the ocean, often holding or otherwise protecting a ship
Prayers
Almighty God, you bestowed the singular help of Blessed Peter on those in
peril from the sea. By the help of his prayers may the light of your grace
shine forth in all the storms of this life and enable us to find the
harbor of everlasting salvation. 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. - General Calendar of the Order of Preachers
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