SAINT FEAST DAY 21 DECEMBER: ST PETER CANISIUS

SAINT PETER CANISIUS, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

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One of the most important Jesuits of the 17th century, Pieter Kanis did much to revitalise the Church in the German-speaking borderlands that came under the influence of Protestant ideas.

DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

A Doctor of the Church, Saint Peter Canisius served in the Society of Jesus at a time when it was credited with saving the Catholic faith in much of Germany, Switzerland, Bohemia and Moravia.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PETER FABER

Born in the Habsburg-controlled Netherlands in 1521 (the region would become part of the Dutch Republic in 1549), he lost his mother very early and his father, a wealthy magistrate, sent him to study at the University of Cologne. There he came under the influence of Peter Faber, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, and Canisius became the first Dutchman to join the order.

THE FIRST DUTCHMAN TO JOIN THE JESUITS

A skilled preacher and writer, he re-invigorated a Church that had grown lazy in bringing the faith to ordinary people. He travelled around the German-speaking world, especially its colleges – a dangerous task that earned him the nickname ‘the Second Apostle of Germany’ (the first being the Anglo-Saxon Boniface). He even turned down the offer of becoming Bishop of Vienna because he wished to continue his travels.

A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THE EMPEROR

The Dutchman also had a strong influence on Emperor Ferdinand I, who came close to going over to the other side when his son and heir, Maximilian, became a Protestant. Had the Holy Roman Empire itself gone along with the rising tide, then Catholicism could have ended up as a fringe, southern European faith.

WINNING BACK HUNDREDS OF PROTESTANTS TO THE FAITH

Much of the success of the Counter-Reformation was due to Catholics imitating the methods of Protestants, and Canisius’s great success was to produce the ‘German Catechism’, by which the basics of Catholics were made available in German so that all Germans could understand it.

HE PREACHED AND PREACHED AND PREACHED

Moving to Augsburg in 1559, he preached and preached and preached, winning back hundreds of Protestants to the faith, and establishing the Jesuits as the most effective agency of the Catholic Church, feared and admired in equal measures. Even after a stroke left him paralysed at the age of 70 he continued to preach and wrote for another eight years until his death.

He was beatified in 1864 and canonised in 1925. He is buried in the grounds of the Jesuit college in Fribourg.

(This article was published in The Catholic Herald, paper edition, issue December 13, 2013)

PRAYER:

Lord,

you gave Saint Peter Canisius

wisdom and courage to defend the Catholic faith.

By the help of his prayers

may all who seek the truth rejoice in finding you,

and may all who believe in you

be loyal in professing their faith.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

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