ST. PETER OF VERONA, OP
St. Peter Martyr (1205-1252) was a famous preacher of the Dominican order, opposing heretics from childhood. He never committed a mortal sin. He wished to die for this faith and God fulfilled that prayer.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
St. Peter was born in 1205 AD to parents who had fallen into the heresy of the Cathari. These heretics held errors very similar to those of the Albigensiens (conquered by St. Dominic) and the Manicheans (bested by St. Augustine). Their principal error was a dualism which meant they held that there were two great competing supernatural beings that rivaled each other in power. For example, they believed both God and the devil had the power to create and cause other things to come into existence. The Cathari argued that God created the ‘spiritual’ world whereas the devil created the ‘physical’ world. Thus they believed that the material order was all inherently evil and this lead to many gravely immoral practices, such as the rejection of marriage, the salvific value of the Sacraments, and the importance of penance and mortification. Ironically, the Greek root word katharos literally means pure, so it colloquial English these heretics could have been called ‘puritans.’
Almost from infancy, Peter fought against heresy. When he was seven, he learned the Apostles Creed (which the heretics abhorred), and he never departed from its true teaching. Once his uncle, a heretic, asked him what he learned at school. Peter responded the Symbol (Creed) of the Christian Faith. His father and uncle did all they could do dissuade him from the Faith, using promises and threats, all to no avail. Imagine, a seven year old withstanding the onslaught of two adults! His own relatives attempted to persuade him that God was not "creator of heaven and earth" but rather that God only created "spiritual good" and not "the evil which is this material world".
Peter came from the northern Italian city of Verona (on the river Adige) which was a region that suffered greatly under the oppressive attacks of Emperor Frederic Barbarossa. Not only were these religiously difficult times, but there was great political instability, for the tyrant Frederick was attempting to destroy the Holy See and make himself sole lord and master of all Christendom.
THE DOMINICAN ORDER
Attempting to corrupt him, his Father sent him to the University of Bologna to study law. Moreover, the place was known as a ‘hotbed’ of Cathari licentiousness and great corruption. Instead, at age 15, St. Peter fled this nest of sin in order to join the newly formed Dominican Order of mendicants. He met St. Dominic himself, who became his spiritual tutor. St. Peter was assiduous in his prayer, exact in following the Rule, and severe in penances. (St. Dominic did not remain long on this earth after calling Peter to his order, but he was able to leave a lasting impression on this great disciple of his).
St. Peter of Verona converted an incredible number of heretics in Italy. He was calumniated by those who hated him and accused of admitting strangers, even women, into his cell. He accepted the punishment and humiliation of his superiors, even being banished to a remote hermitage. Later however he was cleared of the accusations and made superior in several houses of the Order. On account of his great intellect, powerful preaching, and example of holiness, the Pope made him Inquisitor General of the faith in 1232. (Today that post would be the Prefect of the CDF which Joseph Ratzinger held under JP2 before becoming Pope. But back in those days, you could basically say he was the head of the Inquisition. Most Catholics hear this word and cringe with fear, but only because this history is very poorly known and many slanderous lies have been spread about it to attack and hurt the Catholic Church.)
St. Peter frequently conversed with the saints in his prayer, including the virgin martyrs: St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Agnes and St. Cecilia. So careful was he to keep both soul and body from whatsoever could sully their purity that his conscience never accused him of committing a mortal sin.
THE SAINTLY INQUISITOR AND A HERETICAL BISHOP
Once in Lombardy, while he was Inquisitor for Pope Innocent IV, St. Peter of Verona was called to question a heretical bishop who was leading his flock astray. The trial drew such a crown that it had to be held outside. The day was so very hot that it became a health concern for some of the bystanders with a more frail constitution.
Filled with contempt for having to face public trail for his errors, the heretical bishop sought to deride St. Peter before the populace. He scornfully chastised him, "Peter, if thou art so holy as these people hold thee to be, then why does thou allow them to dies of heat? Pray tell, would not God prefer they find shelter?” If St. Peter agreed, then the people would go home and the trial could be avoided. If he disagreed, then the people might believe he had little concern for their well-being. The heretical bishop would then also press a doctrinal advantage, asserting that Peter agreed with him for the material body and what it suffered mattered little. (Like the Pharisees of old who tried to trap Jesus before the multitudes, so this Judas attempted to ensnare the saint.)
Saint Peter calmly replied, "If thou wilt promise that thou shalt hold the true Faith and leave thine heresy, I shall pray therefore to our Lord to shadow the people and grant them relief." Thus, he adroitly placed the entire onus on the bishop and sought to bring this case to a favorable and speedy resolution. The bishop was encouraged by his followers to accept the challenge, for the day was so clear that not a cloud could be seen and they were confident Peter would appear the fool before the crowd. The bishop derided Peter for his claim but refused to agree to submit to the Faith if Peter succeeded. Nevertheless, St. Peter, filled with great filial trust and faith, made his prayer openly. He begged God to send them consoling clouds and then made the Sign of the Cross. Immediately, a cloud appeared on the horizon, was swiftly blown near to cover the town square and stretched its shade above all that were assembled like a pavilion. The cloud abode there the entire length of St. Peter’s sermon and stretched no further than the confines of the assembled crowd. The bishop was unable to rebut St. Peter’s questioning and he lost a great deal of his support especially on account of this miracle and the powerful preaching of St. Peter. (It is for this reason that St. Peter is also invoked for protection from dangerous weather).
DEATH AND GLORY
St. Peter of Verona held the post of Inquisitor General under three pontiffs and zealously worked for the greater glory of God and salvation of souls. Given his great dignity exemplary holiness and outstanding success in conversions, the heretics inculcated a terrible hatred against him. The Cathari in Milan conspired to assassinate the saintly monk and hired two Cathari assassins: Carino of Balsamo and his accomplice, Manfredo Clitoro of Giussano. They followed St. Peter as he journeyed from Como to Milan, and lay in ambush for him at a lonely spot near Barlassina. One assailant struck him twice with an axe in the head and the other stabbed him. They also mortally wounded his companion, a friar named Dominic. St. Peter however rose to his knees, recommended himself to God and, once more, recited the Creed. The murderers then struck him again and again in the side and he breathed his last. His last act was to write "Credo" on the ground with his finger dipped in his own blood. Many more heretics were converted following his death through his miraculous intercession. One of his assassins, Carino, even repented of his crime and became a lay-brother among the Dominicans, spending the rest of his life doing penance in a Dominican monastery at Forli. The history of miracles, performed by his relics and intercession, fills twenty two pages in his folio in the Acta Sanctorum.
St. Peter Martyr was canonized by Pope Innocent IV on March 9, 1253. The magnificent Church of St. Anastasia in Veronica has great doors upon which the life of St. Peter has been sculpted. His body however was entombed in the Church of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan. He also often appeared to, conversed with and instructed St. Vincent Ferrer.
One final anecdote: There was an Italian man named Roba, who in despair for his misfortune, gave his soul over to the devil, and three wicked spirits entered into him. Two of these spirits were cast out immediately by the priest who came and invoked the name of St. Peter of Verona. And the third spirit, though he resisted longer, was also cast out of the man by the invocation of the name of St. Peter of Verona by a holy friar called from nearby to assist with the deliverance of the poor man. For this reason, St. Peter Martyr is also invoked against the devil and his evil minions