September 9 - Saint Peter Claver
Quick Facts- Farmer's son.
- Studied at the University of Barcelona.Jesuit from age 20.
- Priest.
- Influenced by Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez to become a missionary in America.
- Ministered, physically and spiritually, to slaves when they arrived in Cartegena, converting a reported 300,000, and working for humane treatment on the plantations for 40 years.
- Organized charitable societies among the Spanish in America similar to those organized in Europe by Saint Vincent de Paul.
- Peter said of the slaves, "We must speak to them with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips."
