09/09/2024
: THE SAINT WHO FOUGHT FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF BLACK SLAVES
Mga bok at ter, today as we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Claver, S.J., let us know his inspiring story on how he fought for the human rights of black slaves. St. Peter Claver, S.J., was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, in 1581 and died September 04, 1654. In 1610, he landed at Cartagena (modern Colombia), where a thousand slaves were landed every month. Dedicating his life to the aid of enslaved Africans, earned the title of “apostle of the Negroes.”
In his apostolate St. Peter Claver, S.J., did not only wish to relieve the sufferings of the slaves but also to redeem them. He never justified useless rebellion and bloodshed; his mission was to be an apostle who devoted himself lovingly and totally to the race. Pope Leo XIII once said of him: “No other life except the life of Christ has so moved me as that of St. Peter Claver.” At the age of 20 Peter Claver entered the Society of Jesus and he was sent to study philosophy at Palma, Mallorca. While there, he became good friends with the porter of the college, Alphonsus Rodriguez, a lay brother known for his holiness and gift of prophecy. Brother Alphonsus told a Jesuit priest that “Brother Peter will go to Cartagena and will work among blacks and gather in a great harvest of souls.”
In 1610, he landed at Cartagena (modern Colombia), the principle slave market of the New World, where a thousand slaves were landed every month. After his ordination in 1616, he dedicated himself by special vow to the service of the Negro slaves-a work that was to last for thirty-three years. He labored unceasingly for the salvation of the African slaves and the abolition of the Negro slave trade, and the love he lavished on them was something that transcended the natural order.
Every month when the ships carrying the slaves approached Cartagena, Claver — laden with food and clothing — would go out to meet the ship before it docked in the port. Father Claver always carried a leather bag filled with a Bible, a religious handbook, holy oil, a cross, a rosary, to***co, etc. Black slave interpreters, or “his other hand,” would accompany him. Without knowing the different languages, Claver would communicate with the frightened slaves by embracing them and speaking to them with love and compassion.
For 40 years, Peter Claver was more than “a slave to the slaves.” He worked defending, protecting and nursing the slaves arriving from Africa. Along with his interpreters, he taught them catechism from five to eight hours a day. He baptized more than 300,000 slaves. This Jesuit saint was their protector and father. He went to each one, cared for him and showed him kindness. On Sundays during Lent he assembled the slaves and inquired about their needs, and defended them against their aggressors. He visited the hospitals regularly and the huts of the dying poor throughout the city and countryside. He would hear confessions of slaves for hours on end.
St. Peter Claver, S.J., is one of the greatest saints of the Society of Jesus. His reaction to man’s cruelty to man was charity. He was the liberator of the black race because he offered the frightened and abandoned slaves coming to America a sense that they were individuals and human, with a soul. By making himself a “slave” he showed a fundamental equality of the races. And with the sacrifices of his life, he proved that compassion and love still remained in the world.St. Peter Claver was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XII along with his friend, the Jesuit porter Alphonsus Rodriguez. Later he was declared the patron of missionary work among all African peoples and Negro Missions.
Part of his legacy is the Knights of Peter Claver, which is the largest African-American Catholic fraternal organization in the United States. This group of Catholics seeks to emulate the charitable acts and corporal works of mercy that St. Peter Claver performed throughout his lifetime.
————————————————————
Sources:
(1) St. Peter Clever—Catholic. org [retrieved on September 09, 2021]
(2) St. Peter Claver: Pioneering fighter for human rights — catholicphilly. com— [published by Fr. Gus Puleo on September 9, 2014]
(3) St. Peter Claver— britannica. com — [published on August 31, 2021]
📸 Teilhard de Chardin
