Saint peter chanel biography wikipedia

They were all pious children who prayed and tried to help one another to serve God ever more faithfully. In the parish priest, seeing Peter's good dispositions, arranged for him to study in the town of Cras, and to reside there with his aunt. During the summer the young Christian returned to watch the sheep and continue reading his cherished books in the fields.

He began to serve Mass and learned the elements of Latin, and accompanied the priest when he went to take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick and dying. At the age of fifteen Peter passed through a temptation to abandon his studies and return home; a prayer to the Blessed Virgin saved his future vocation. The following year he was sent to the diocesan seminary; three years there left with his fellow candidates unforgettable memories of the pious seminarian.

He was ordained in and named assistant in the parish of Amberieu; at the end of a year there his delicate health caused the bishop to send him as parish priest to a more favorable climate in the mountains of Switzerland, where he hoped the young priest would also reform the parish. Saint Peter manifested great solicitude for the poor and the small children, for their instruction making an appeal to his younger sister Mary Frances, then twenty years old.

Pope Pius XII canonized him in Peter Chanel. Peter was sent to the islands of Futuna and Wallis. On arrival, he found that war between rival tribes and the practice of cannibalism had reduced the islands' population to a few thousand and those that remained were deeply engrossed in a religion that involved the worship of terror, offered to evil deities.

St Peter Chanel exemplifies a life of the Spirit's gifts of courage and fruit of kindness required of all young people, but especially young priests. As you have come with the power of the Holy Spirit as witnesses to Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, you can pray for zeal and wisdom to play your part in the new evangelization. Chanel was declared a martyr and beatified on 17 November His feast day is 28 April, which is a public holiday in Wallis and Futuna.

Peter is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 28 April. Marist priests and brothers working in Oceania cover a territory as big as Western Europe. The area includes six independent nations and two French territories. The Marist Oceania province is the largest in the Society of Mary. Several schools and collegesmostly in Oceania but including Chanel College, Dublinare named for him.

Roger Burke, Michael Perry, St. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Life [ edit ]. Early years [ edit ]. Marist and missionary [ edit ]. Martyrdom [ edit ]. Relics [ edit ]. Conversions in Futuna [ edit ].

Saint peter chanel biography wikipedia

Veneration [ edit ]. Legacy [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Links [ edit ]. St Peter Chanelwas made the superior of a band of Marist missionaries that set out on 24 December from France. Pompallier based himself in New Zealand. They were initially well received by the island's king, Niuliki. Once the missionaries learned the local language and began preaching directly to the people, the king grew restive.

He believed that Christianity would take away his prerogatives as high priest and king. When the king's son, Meitalasought to be baptizedthe king sent a favoured warrior, his son-in-law, Musumusuto "do whatever was necessary" to resolve the problem. Musumusu initially went to Meitala and the two fought. Musumusu, injured in the fracas, went to Chanel feigning need of medical attention.

While Chanel tended him a group of others ransacked his house. Musumusu took an axe and clubbed Chanel on the head. Pierre died that day, April 28, After Chanel's martyrdommissionary work was continued. They arrived on 9 June