Saint Peter Gonzalez

The fame of such eminent holiness having spread throughout Spain, King Ferdi nand III wished t roi Ferdinand III King of Castile and León who sought the saint's counsel. o have the blessed Peter by his side, to avail himself of his prayers to God and his counsel in the design of exterminating from his kingdom the Moors who then occupied the better part of it. Our Saint took advantage of the prince's confidence to reform the court and the army. His examples contributed more to this than his speeches. For he lived amidst noise or magnificence with the same regularity and the same austerity as in the cloister. His virtue was subjected to a terrible test and shone through a great miracle. Some licentious lords, to avenge themselves for the corrections with which he constantly pursued them, sought a way to discredit his virtue and even to drag him into vice. A brazen courtesan undertook to seduce him, in exchange for a large sum of money that they promised her. She approached Gonzalez, asking to consult him in secret on a matter of the greatest importance. When everyone had left, she knelt, let feigned tears flow, and began, like a penitent, the confession of her faults. But as soon as she believed the moment favorable, throwing off the mask, she employed all the artifices of which she was capable, and which the demon could suggest, to seduce him. Gonzalez, without explaining his intention, told her that he was going to prepare to receive her better in an adjoining room. He retired there, lit a large fire, and threw himself, wrapped in his cloak, into the flames, which respected him. He then called the courtesan, who, at the sight of this miracle, was converted, as were those who had pushed her to this action: and all, thereafter, led a Christian life and were full of veneration for the Saint.

Gonzalez accompanied King Ferdinand in all his expeditions against the Moors and had a great part in his victories, through his prayers, his counsel, and above all through the reform of morals among the soldiers and their leaders. The capture of Cordoba (1236) was f or him Cordoue Place of the saint's death. an occasion to display his zeal. He moderated the momentum of the victors, saved the innocence of virgins from the insolence of the soldiers, and had enemy blood spared. He purified the mosques and converted them into churches. The great mosque of Cordoba, the most famous in Spain, was changed into a cathedral. There, they found the bells and ornaments that the Moors had had brought there from Compo stela, two Compostelle A major pilgrimage site visited by the saint. hundred years earlier, on the shoulders of Christians. Ferdinand obliged the vanquished to carry them back to Compostela in the same manner.

He left the court as soon as he believed his presence there was less necessary, despite the prayers and all the means employed to retain him. He longed to evangelize the poor, the inhabitants of the countryside. The steepest mountains, the most inaccessible places, the ignorance and coarseness of the populations, no obstacle stopped him. Prayer sustained and maintained the apostolic spirit with which he was animated. It was especially in the dioceses of Tuy and Compostela that his preaching produced marvelous fruits. God honored him with the gift of miracles and communicated to him above all the grace to make the poor understand and savor the truths of salvation. He was respected everywhere as an angel: people sometimes followed him for five or six leagues to enjoy his words for a long time. He had a predilection for sailors: he went to look for them on their ships to win them over to God and did not cease to instruct them until he ceased to live. We also owe to him, among many other benefits, a bridge that he built over the Minho, at Riba davia, in Ribadavia Place where the saint had a bridge built over the Minho. a dangerous place where many people perished. It is said in this regard that, finding himself several times embarrassed to feed the numerous workers he had gathered, he would call the fish of the river to the bank. They, obeying the man of God, would come of their own accord to offer themselves to death.

While preaching in a monastery of the Order of Saint Benedict, he had a revelation that the hour of his death was near; therefore, after commending himself to the prayers of these religious, he re tir Tuy City where the saint died and was buried. ed to Tuy to spend the remainder of Lent there; he preached every day in the cathedral church with extraordinary fervor, and these were his final labors: for, having fallen ill during Holy Week, he died peacefully in Our Lord on the day of His Resurrection, in the year 1240 according to some, 1248 according to others. Upon dying, he left his belt to his host; some also say his cloak; and these relics served thereafter to perform several miracles. The Bishop of Tuy, who held him in singular affection, had him buried solemnly in his cathedral, and requested in his will to be buried beside him.

Twelve years after his death, an inquiry was conducted containing one hundred and eighty miracles that God had performed in favor of lepers, the possessed, the blind, the deaf, the mute, and other sick people through the ministry of our Saint; it was sent by the Bishop of Tuy, successor to the one we mentioned, to the General Chapter of the Order of Saint Dominic, which was being held in Toulouse, so that it might address his canonization. But, although the Saint showed himself favorable to those who invoked him in their needs, sailors have nevertheless felt the virtue of his assistance more particularly in the perils of the strongest storms; he appeared to them visibly, in the habit of his Order, to deliver them. In the ports and maritime villages of Spain, his feast is celebrated with great solemnity on the Monday after Quasimodo Sunday, and his image is held in great veneration in Lisbon and Biscay under the name of Saint Elmo.

Pope Innocent IV bea tified Pet saint Elme Spanish Dominican, royal advisor, and patron saint of sailors. er Gonzalez in the yea Innocent IV 13th-century pope who testified to the saint's miracles. r 1254 and granted the Dominicans of Spain permission to celebrate his office. Benedict XIV appr oved his o Benoît XIV Pope who beatified Jerome Emiliani. ffice for the entire Order of Saint Dominic.

In his capacity as patron of the navy, Saint Elmo has been depicted walking on the waters and holding a flame in his hand. This flame designates Saint Elmo's fi re. Everyone know feu de saint Elme Atmospheric electrical phenomenon associated with the saint by sailors. s that sailors call by this name an electric light that appears at the top of masts or at the end of yards when the sea is calm and the sky favorable. Saint Elmo's fire is therefore a good omen. Sometimes this flame is placed on the Saint's forehead.

Abridged from the Acta Sanctorum.