Saints celebrated on the 7th of July
BLESSED PETER TO ROT, MARTYR
Blessed Peter To Rot was born in 1912 in the village of Rakunai [Papua New Guinea], the third of six children. His father was a respected chief and sent blessed Peter to school at the age of seven, even though school was not mandatory.
When Blessed Peter was 18 years old the missionary priest in the village spoke to his father about the possibility of him becoming a priest. Blessed Peter’s father did not think the time was right for this but allowed his son to train as a catechist.
HE TRAINED AS A CATECHIST
In 1930 Blessed Peter went to the Catechist School in Taliligap staffed by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Blessed Peter applied himself to his studies, growing in prayer and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
At the age of 21, Blessed Peter was called back to his village to become the youngest catechist. Blessed Peter taught in the parish school and visited and prayed with the sick.
AN EXEMPLARY HUSBAND
On November 11, 1936, Blessed Peter married Paula Ja Varpit at the Rakunai church. Blessed Peter was an exemplary husband and he and his wife spent time in prayer every day. They had two children.
Blessed Peter would share with his wife his increasing concerns about the Japanese occupation of their island. His fears were realised when in 1942 bombs were dropped in their area, on a people who had never seen aeroplanes before.
ALL THE PRIESTS WERE SENT TO A PRISON CAMP
When the Japanese soldiers arrived all the missionary priests were sent to a prison camp at Vunapope. When the priest of the village was taken away, he shook hands with Blessed Peter and told him that all the work was now left to him. Look after the people, he was told, and make sure that the people do not forget God.
"WE MUST PRAY"
Blessed Peter took on this work even though he was afraid. He told the people, “This is a very bad time for us, and we are all afraid. But God our Father is with us and looking after us. We must pray and ask him to stay with us always”. Blessed Peter had the habit of calling all the people together for prayer each day but, as the bombings increased, they then thought it unwise to have all the people in one place. So the people met in groups in different places for prayer and often went into caves that had been made to hide from the bombings.
IF THEY PRAYED TO GOD THEY WOULD BE SENT TO JAIL
Later the Japanese soldiers came and told the people that they must not pray to their God, that they could not meet on Sundays for Mass and that no prayers were allowed in the village. Anyone found doing these things would be sent to jail.
"THEY CANNOT STOP US LOVING GOD"
Blessed Peter responded by saying that, “They cannot stop us loving God and obeying his laws. We must be strong and we must refuse to give in to them.” And so the prayers continued. Some spies, sent by the soldiers, reported that the prayers were continuing and so soldiers came and arrested Blessed Peter. They searched his house and took away his Bible, catechism book and two rosaries.
"I AM A CHILD OF THE CHURCH"
During the interrogation Blessed Peter was beaten and then sentenced to two months in prison. When Blessed Peter was not released on time the village chief came to see him and was told, “I am in prison because of the church services. Well, I am ready to die. But you must take care of the people.” To another Blessed Peter said, “If it is God’s will, I’ll be murdered for the faith. I am a child of the church and therefore for the church I will die.”
A MARTYR FOR THE FAITH
One day all the other prisoners with Blessed Peter were taken away. With no one around to see, the soldiers gave Blessed Peter a lethal injection. When the others noticed later that Blessed Peter was not on roll call, they found his dead body and the soldiers feigned surprise saying that Blessed Peter must have been ill. Blessed Peter was buried in the cemetery next to the village church where he ministered. From that day he was revered as a martyr for the Faith.”
From: Spiritual Thought from Fr Chris
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