Inbox Inspiration: June 26, 2019: Saint Peter Claver

Saint Peter Claver

Dear Friends, 
Peter Claver (Claver was his family name) was born in Spain in 1581.
As a young man, he entered the Society of Jesus, usually known as the Jesuits.
Before ordination, he felt God calling him to leave Spain and minister to the slaves being brought into Cartagena, Columbia from West Africa.
And so, he left his native Spain in 1610 at age 29 and never returned. 
Another Jesuit, Father Alfonso de Sandoval had been ministering to the slaves in Cartagena for many years and Peter Claver succeeded him.
He was ordained in 1615 and cared for the black slaves for almost forty years.
The conditions of the slaves being transported to Cartagena were inhuman.
It is estimated that 10,000 slaves arrived each year and that as many as 1/3^rd died in transit from the deplorable conditions.
Peter Claver faithfully cared for them –
greeting each ship full of slaves, bringing them food and medicine,
trying to instill in them a sense of God’s love for them and of their dignity as persons,
serving as a moral witness to the society that engaged in this immoral treatment, 
and bringing to the slaves the saving message of Jesus Christ.
It is estimated that Peter Claver baptized as many as 300,000 slaves.
Peter Claver got sick from a plague in 1650 and died in 1654.
We can turn to this saint for inspiration to care for the poor and downtrodden, especially those who are oppressed by the social systems of the day.
Peter Claver’s feast day is September 9 in our Catholic calendar.

“This was how we spoke to them, not with words but with our hands and our actions…We made every effort to encourage them with friendly gestures and displayed in their presence the emotions which somehow naturally tend to hearten the sick.” 
From a letter by Saint Pater Claver.
 “All you holy men and women, Saints of God, pray for us.” 
Father Michael Schleupner