Saint Peter Claver's | Saint of the Day | September 9

Prayer to Saint Peter Claver's

Lord, for love of you Saint Peter Claver became the

faithful servant of slaves and strengthened him with

wonderful charity and patience as he came to their help.

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. 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.

Amen.



Day 1 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 2 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 3 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 4 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 5 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 6 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 7 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 8 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…

Day 9 – St. Peter Claver Novena

Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, for love of you St. Peter Claver became the faithful servant of slaves. 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. 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. Amen. 

(Mention your request here…)

St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Say 1: Our Father…  Say 1: Hail Mary… Say 1: Glory Be…


Saint Peter Claver's Story

A native of Spain, young Jesuit Peter Claver left his homeland forever in 1610 to be a missionary in the colonies of the New World. He sailed into Cartagena, a rich port city washed by the Caribbean. He was ordained there in 1615.By this time the slave trade had been established in the Americas for nearly 100 years, and Cartagena was a chief center for it. Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Although the practice of slave-trading was condemned by Pope Paul III and later labeled “supreme villainy” by Pope Pius IX, it continued to flourish.

Peter Claver’s predecessor, Jesuit Father Alfonso de Sandoval, had devoted himself to the service of the slaves for 40 years before Claver arrived to continue his work, declaring himself “the slave of the Negroes forever.”As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and exhausted passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the crowds, Claver plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons, and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God’s love. During the 40 years of his ministry, Claver instructed and baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves.

Fr. Claver's apostolate extended beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force, indeed, the apostle of Cartagena. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and traders as well as country missions, during which he avoided, when possible, the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave quarters instead.After four years of sickness, which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, Claver died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his solicitude for the black outcasts, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp.

Peter Claver was canonized in 1888, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among black slaves.

Reflection

The Holy Spirit’s might and power are manifested in the striking decisions and bold actions of Peter Claver. A decision to leave one’s homeland never to return reveals a gigantic act of will difficult for us to imagine. Peter’s determination to serve forever the most abused, rejected, and lowly of all people is stunningly heroic. When we measure our lives against such a man’s, we become aware of our own barely used potential and of our need to open ourselves more to the jolting power of Jesus’ Spirit.


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