BL. JOHN OF PERUGIA AND BL. PETER OF SASSOFERRATO - 29 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 29th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. JOHN OF PERUGIA AND BL. PETER OF SASSOFERRATO 

Blessed John, a priest from Perugia, and Blessed Peter, a lay brother from Sassoferrato in the Papal States, both belonged to the Order of St Francis.

Around 1216 they went to Spain as preachers of the faith to convert the Muslims there. Once there, they worked for their mission for more than ten years. 

THEY PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST

Full of zeal for Christ, they went to the city of Valencia, where they had last set foot from Teruel (Turolium). They even entered a mosque to save those souls within by bringing them the Good News of Jesus Christ. However, they were seized and dragged in front of the Mohammedan ruler Zeitus Abuzeitus, who after a brief question as to why they had dared to start such a thing, ordered them to become Mohammedans.

When the holy friars refused, Zeitus had them killed on the spot in the very garden where he happened to be strolling at the time. This martyrdom occurred in 1231 (according to other sources, in 1230). 

THEY WERE MARTYRED

The Christians had to pay money and buy the dead bodies from the Mohammedan. Their bodies were then brought to Teruel by the faithful and given a dignified funeral.

Miracles happened at their resting place. 

THE RULER CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY

Furthermore, the ruler, who had their murder carried out, subsequently converted to Christianity, and he converted his palace into a Franciscan monastery. 

His son, too, remained faithful in his father's way, to the joy of Christians, walking in the Faith.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)