Search
-
September 19, 2019Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Oklahoma City hosted Saint Peter Claver Day on Sept. 8.
Every year, on the weekend closest to Sept. 9 – the feast day of Saint Peter Claver, patron of the missions to African people and human rights defender – Corpus Christi hosts the Knights of Peter Claver and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver from the other Oklahoma parishes.
The Knights of Peter Claver, established in 1909, are a Catholic fraternal service organization that bases its principles on engagement in their local communities to help the pastor spread the Gospel.
Saint Peter Claver was a priest from Spain whose primary mission was to see everything through the eyes of Christ. At age 30, Father Claver volunteered to work in the missionary fields in Columbia. By this time, the slave trade had been established. Father Claver saw it as his mission to bring the Gospel to all, especially those who were brought from Africa on slave vessels. It is said that Saint Peter Claver baptized nearly 300,000 slaves as they entered the New World, giving them basic instruction, and caring for their spiritual needs.
Saint Peter Claver died at age 74 after a long illness in his beloved Columbia. He was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. By his life and ministry, Saint Peter Claver sought to fight for the rights of everyone and to share the Gospel with anyone willing to listen.
Saint Peter Claver, pray for us!
