Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
Sept 10 - St Peter Claver died.1654) Saint of the slaves
Summary: St Peter Claver SJ, a Catalan Jesuit missionary, who worked in Colombia, South America. At the height of the slave trade, he befriended and baptized some 300,000 African slaves over a 40-year period. He died on 8th September 1654.
Paul Hurley tells his extraordinary story.
Peter called himself 'Aethioporum servus (slave of the Africans)', he dedicated himself completely to their welfare. slave of the Negroes for all time; the Spanish Council of Tarragona in 1727 named him 'Apostle of the West Indies'; and Father James Brodrick, the Jesuit historian, described him as 'a fusion in one man of the Curé d'Ars, St Francis Xavier and Fr St Damian de Veuster'.
Born in Verdu
A plaque in a small room, now a chapel, in a house in the Catalan village of Verdu, about 50 miles from Barcelona, reads: 'Here St Peter Claver, Apostle of the Negroes, was born in 1580'. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl, whose father had a small farm nearby. When he was thirteen his mother and one of his brothers died within a few days. Soon afterwards his father married again and when his second wife died he married a third time. At sixteen Peter left home for good, going first to Barcelona to study for three years.
Joined the Jesuits Slave trade
In 1602 he joined the Jesuits at Tarragona and three years later he was sent to study philosophy at a Jesuit college in Palma on the island of Majorca. Here he met the man who had the greatest influence on his life, Brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, who was then 80 while Peter was only 25. Alphonsus became his best friend and spiritual director or 'my saintly master', as he called him. It was the old brother who encouraged the young student to go as a missionary to South America.
From Palma Peter Claver went back to Barcelona to study theology for two years. Then in 1610 he was among a group of Jesuits who sailed in a 300-ton galleon on a five month voyage to the West Indies. After arriving at Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of what is now Colombia, Claver was sent to Bogotà, the capital. He was told to finish his theology studies here, though he now wanted to be a brother. In 1616 he was ordained a priest at the age of 36 in Cartagena.
Slave Trade
Because of its splendid harbour, Cartagena was then the centre of the lucrative slave trade in Spanish America. Here Claver met another Jesuit, Fr Alphonsus Sandoval, who also greatly influenced him. Sandoval had already spent 40 years helping the slaves and when he was transferred to another mission he urged Claver to continue his work in Cartagena.
For 400 years, starting in the 16th century, Britain and France especially, but also Holland, Spain and Portugal transported about 15 million Africans as slaves to work in the mines and plantations of their American colonies. From 1680 to 1786 Britain alone shipped 2,130,000 African slaves to America. This vile trade was eventually abolished by France in 1818, by Spain in 1820 and by Britain in 1833.
10,000 slaves arrived in every year
In Claver's time about 10,000 slaves arrived in Cartagena every year. They came from some 40 areas in Africa, mostly from Angola, where they were bought for one or two reals and then sold for up to 200 reals each in Cartagena. It was big business, like the arms trade and the pop 'music' or pornographic industries today.
'About 400 black men and women, arrive in each small sailing ship,' Father Sandoval reported. 'Usually a third of them die during the two month voyage from Africa. They come with rings around their necks and their feet joined by fetters in pairs, so that they are chained from head to feet. No Spaniard stays long down in the dark hold of the ships, where the Negroes are imprisoned, without the risk of serious illness from the stench, overcrowding and misery of the place and where all kind of diseases soon spread. Once a day they are fed a platter of flour or raw millet and a jug of water. They get plenty of beatings and whippings. With this treatment they arrive like skeletons; they are taken from the ships naked and placed in a great yard. There come endless crowds of people, some to buy slaves, others from curiosity and a few from compassion.'
Claver and his Medicines, Food and Drink
Claver organised his work thoroughly. With Br Nicholas Gonzalez, his assistant for 22 years and first biographer, he had a team of nine Negro interpreters, who spoke various African languages; Claver learned Congolese. Whenever a slave ship arrived he went to the port with medicines, food and drink. He went down into the hell below the decks where no other white man would venture. He washed and dressed the slaves' horrible wounds; he fed them with food he had begged in the city; he baptized the dying and comforted the weary, who had suffered beatings and were homesick.
Sick Slaves and the Local Hospital
When the slaves came ashore he carried the sick and wounded in his arms to a hospital or camp,
where he gave them clothes and more medicine and food. He used his own cloak as a veil to hide their leprous wounds, as a pillow for the sick, as a pall for those who died. It soon became as famous as its owner, for its very touch often cured the sick and, after his death, men fought to tear pieces from it as relics.
Visiting the slaves
Only after the slaves were packed into yards to await their sale and where conditions were often worse than on board the ships, it was only then that Claver's real work began. Here he patiently instructed them, partly by means of pictures, and baptized them by the thousand. He did all this not because he liked doing it, but for the love of God. But he did much more. He travelled from village to village across mountains and swamps to visit the slaves, giving them religious instruction every year.
In Cartagena he regularly visited the prisons and prisoners about to be executed. He brought all the slaves of the city and surroundings to the Jesuit church, where he tolerated no segregation. In fact he always gave precedence to the slaves, who were admitted to confession first. 'My confessional is too narrow for hooped petticoats: he told the Spanish ladies who sought him and complained of the smell of the African slaves in the church. On his less busy days he went to the wealthier area of Cartagena to beg for food and clothes.
Physical Profile
Peter Claver was of medium height, with a long thin face, an aquiline nose, large eyes and mouth, a dark complexion and a beard flecked with grey. His expression was usually sad and his head bent down. He wore an old threadbare cassock and carried a staff surmounted by a cross. He dressed like a beggar, wearing old clothes rejected by others,' wrote his biographer Father Andrade SJ. 'His nights consisted of five hours of prayer and three hours of sleep. He meditated regularly on Christ's Passion and he practised extreme mortifications. His only hobby was that he loved music.'
Routine reports about him sent to Rome by his Jesuit superiors read (dated 1616): 'Mental powers, less than mediocre.
Judgment, mediocre.
Prudence, lacking: And (dated 1651):
Advance in spiritual matters, excellent:
One superior described him as 'a Catalan, pigheaded and difficult'.
Father Valtierra SJ, his best biographer, wrote: 'He rarely smiled. The dreadful human wretchedness which he witnessed, the cruelty of the slave-traders, the desolation of the hospitals - all this, added to his own strained physical powers, his lack of sleep and his penances, brought about the general sadness which was the background to his life. Sadness in him was the fruit of an immense love for a God he saw rejected.' He had three intimate Jesuit friends: Brother (now St) Alphonsus, Father Sandoval and Brother Nicholas.
Nine Jesuits died from the plague which struck Cartagena in 1650. Claver never fully recovered from it and was paralysed and confined to bed for his last four years. Ironically, an African, who was assigned to care for him during this time, treated him horribly, though Claver never complained. When news of his death, at the age of 74 on 8 September 1654, reached the city, such big crowds of all kinds of people, many seeking relics, came to the church that soldiers had to be called on to protect his body.
The Jesuits reckoned that in 40 years Peter Claver baptized some 300,000 African slaves, a record unheard of in Church history. When he and his old friend, Br Alphonsus were canonised on the same day in 1888, Pope Leo XIII said,
'No life, except the life of Christ, has so moved me as that of St Peter Claver.
This article first appeared in The Word (September 2004), a Divine Word Missionary Publication.
Paul Hurley tells his extraordinary story.
Peter called himself 'Aethioporum servus (slave of the Africans)', he dedicated himself completely to their welfare. slave of the Negroes for all time; the Spanish Council of Tarragona in 1727 named him 'Apostle of the West Indies'; and Father James Brodrick, the Jesuit historian, described him as 'a fusion in one man of the Curé d'Ars, St Francis Xavier and Fr St Damian de Veuster'.Born in Verdu
A plaque in a small room, now a chapel, in a house in the Catalan village of Verdu, about 50 miles from Barcelona, reads: 'Here St Peter Claver, Apostle of the Negroes, was born in 1580'. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl, whose father had a small farm nearby. When he was thirteen his mother and one of his brothers died within a few days. Soon afterwards his father married again and when his second wife died he married a third time. At sixteen Peter left home for good, going first to Barcelona to study for three years.
Joined the Jesuits Slave trade
In 1602 he joined the Jesuits at Tarragona and three years later he was sent to study philosophy at a Jesuit college in Palma on the island of Majorca. Here he met the man who had the greatest influence on his life, Brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, who was then 80 while Peter was only 25. Alphonsus became his best friend and spiritual director or 'my saintly master', as he called him. It was the old brother who encouraged the young student to go as a missionary to South America.
From Palma Peter Claver went back to Barcelona to study theology for two years. Then in 1610 he was among a group of Jesuits who sailed in a 300-ton galleon on a five month voyage to the West Indies. After arriving at Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of what is now Colombia, Claver was sent to Bogotà, the capital. He was told to finish his theology studies here, though he now wanted to be a brother. In 1616 he was ordained a priest at the age of 36 in Cartagena.Slave Trade
Because of its splendid harbour, Cartagena was then the centre of the lucrative slave trade in Spanish America. Here Claver met another Jesuit, Fr Alphonsus Sandoval, who also greatly influenced him. Sandoval had already spent 40 years helping the slaves and when he was transferred to another mission he urged Claver to continue his work in Cartagena.
For 400 years, starting in the 16th century, Britain and France especially, but also Holland, Spain and Portugal transported about 15 million Africans as slaves to work in the mines and plantations of their American colonies. From 1680 to 1786 Britain alone shipped 2,130,000 African slaves to America. This vile trade was eventually abolished by France in 1818, by Spain in 1820 and by Britain in 1833.
10,000 slaves arrived in every year
In Claver's time about 10,000 slaves arrived in Cartagena every year. They came from some 40 areas in Africa, mostly from Angola, where they were bought for one or two reals and then sold for up to 200 reals each in Cartagena. It was big business, like the arms trade and the pop 'music' or pornographic industries today.
'About 400 black men and women, arrive in each small sailing ship,' Father Sandoval reported. 'Usually a third of them die during the two month voyage from Africa. They come with rings around their necks and their feet joined by fetters in pairs, so that they are chained from head to feet. No Spaniard stays long down in the dark hold of the ships, where the Negroes are imprisoned, without the risk of serious illness from the stench, overcrowding and misery of the place and where all kind of diseases soon spread. Once a day they are fed a platter of flour or raw millet and a jug of water. They get plenty of beatings and whippings. With this treatment they arrive like skeletons; they are taken from the ships naked and placed in a great yard. There come endless crowds of people, some to buy slaves, others from curiosity and a few from compassion.'
Claver and his Medicines, Food and Drink
Claver organised his work thoroughly. With Br Nicholas Gonzalez, his assistant for 22 years and first biographer, he had a team of nine Negro interpreters, who spoke various African languages; Claver learned Congolese. Whenever a slave ship arrived he went to the port with medicines, food and drink. He went down into the hell below the decks where no other white man would venture. He washed and dressed the slaves' horrible wounds; he fed them with food he had begged in the city; he baptized the dying and comforted the weary, who had suffered beatings and were homesick.
Sick Slaves and the Local Hospital
When the slaves came ashore he carried the sick and wounded in his arms to a hospital or camp,
where he gave them clothes and more medicine and food. He used his own cloak as a veil to hide their leprous wounds, as a pillow for the sick, as a pall for those who died. It soon became as famous as its owner, for its very touch often cured the sick and, after his death, men fought to tear pieces from it as relics.Visiting the slaves
Only after the slaves were packed into yards to await their sale and where conditions were often worse than on board the ships, it was only then that Claver's real work began. Here he patiently instructed them, partly by means of pictures, and baptized them by the thousand. He did all this not because he liked doing it, but for the love of God. But he did much more. He travelled from village to village across mountains and swamps to visit the slaves, giving them religious instruction every year.
In Cartagena he regularly visited the prisons and prisoners about to be executed. He brought all the slaves of the city and surroundings to the Jesuit church, where he tolerated no segregation. In fact he always gave precedence to the slaves, who were admitted to confession first. 'My confessional is too narrow for hooped petticoats: he told the Spanish ladies who sought him and complained of the smell of the African slaves in the church. On his less busy days he went to the wealthier area of Cartagena to beg for food and clothes.
Physical ProfilePeter Claver was of medium height, with a long thin face, an aquiline nose, large eyes and mouth, a dark complexion and a beard flecked with grey. His expression was usually sad and his head bent down. He wore an old threadbare cassock and carried a staff surmounted by a cross. He dressed like a beggar, wearing old clothes rejected by others,' wrote his biographer Father Andrade SJ. 'His nights consisted of five hours of prayer and three hours of sleep. He meditated regularly on Christ's Passion and he practised extreme mortifications. His only hobby was that he loved music.'
Routine reports about him sent to Rome by his Jesuit superiors read (dated 1616): 'Mental powers, less than mediocre.
Judgment, mediocre.
Prudence, lacking: And (dated 1651):
Advance in spiritual matters, excellent:
One superior described him as 'a Catalan, pigheaded and difficult'.
Father Valtierra SJ, his best biographer, wrote: 'He rarely smiled. The dreadful human wretchedness which he witnessed, the cruelty of the slave-traders, the desolation of the hospitals - all this, added to his own strained physical powers, his lack of sleep and his penances, brought about the general sadness which was the background to his life. Sadness in him was the fruit of an immense love for a God he saw rejected.' He had three intimate Jesuit friends: Brother (now St) Alphonsus, Father Sandoval and Brother Nicholas.Nine Jesuits died from the plague which struck Cartagena in 1650. Claver never fully recovered from it and was paralysed and confined to bed for his last four years. Ironically, an African, who was assigned to care for him during this time, treated him horribly, though Claver never complained. When news of his death, at the age of 74 on 8 September 1654, reached the city, such big crowds of all kinds of people, many seeking relics, came to the church that soldiers had to be called on to protect his body.
The Jesuits reckoned that in 40 years Peter Claver baptized some 300,000 African slaves, a record unheard of in Church history. When he and his old friend, Br Alphonsus were canonised on the same day in 1888, Pope Leo XIII said,
'No life, except the life of Christ, has so moved me as that of St Peter Claver.
This article first appeared in The Word (September 2004), a Divine Word Missionary Publication.
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Memorable Proverb for Today
At the end of the day.
It's not what you have or what you have accomplished.
It is about what you have done with those accomplishments.
It's about who you've lifted up, who you have made better.
It's about what you have given back.
~ Denzel Washington. actor ~
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Liturgical Readings for: Thursday, 10th September, 2026
Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Saint of the Day: Sep 10: – St Peter Claver, religious, missionary, religious founder,
C/f A short look at this saint’s life can be found below today's Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 8:1-7. 11-13
By sinning in this way against your weak consciences, it would be Christ against whom you sinned.
'We all have knowledge'; yes, that is so, but knowledge gives self-importance - it is love that makes the building grow. A man may imagine he understands something, but still not understand anything in the way that he ought to. But any man who loves God is known by him.
Well then,
about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that idols do not really exist in the world and that there is no god but the One. And even if there were things called gods, either in the sky or on earth - where there certainly seem to be 'gods' and 'lords' in plenty - still for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we exist.Some people, however, do not have this knowledge. There are some who have been so long used to idols that they eat this food as though it really had been sacrificed to the idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled by it. In this way your knowledge could become the ruin of someone weak, of a brother for whom Christ died. By sinning in this way against your brothers, and injuring their weak consciences, it would be Christ against whom you sinned. That is why, since food can be the occasion of my brother's downfall, I shall never eat meat again in case I am the cause of a brother's downfall.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 138: 1-3, 13-14, 23-24
Response Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.
1. O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you. Response
2. For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother's womb.
I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation. Response
3. O search me, God, and know my heart. a test me and know my thoughts.
See that I follow not the wrong path and lead me in the path of life eternal. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Jm 1: 21
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word, which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Alleluia !
Or I Jn 4: 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
As long as we love one another God will live in us,
and his love will be complete in us.
Alleluia !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 6:27-38 Glory to you, O Lord
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.
Jesus said to his disciples:
'I say this to you who are listening:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you.
If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect?
For even sinners do that much.And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
'Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.'
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday Twenty Third Week in Ordinary Time Luke 6:27-38
We live in a digital, AI information age. We have access to information today to a degree that wasn’t conceivable even a generation ago. We are more knowledgeable about so many things, compared to our parents or grandparents. We place a high value on knowledge and on those who have it, people who are experts in their field. It is clear from the beginning of today’s first reading that some members of the church in Corinth also placed a high value on knowledge, declaring proudly, ‘We all have knowledge’.
However, in Paul’s view, this claim to know has made some of them very arrogant and somewhat indifferent to the impact of their knowledge on others in the community. They may have knowledge but they lack love, the fruit of the Spirit, which according to Paul in that reading ‘makes the building grow’, builds up the church. Paul was convinced that knowledge without love can be destructive of others or, as he puts it, ‘could become the ruin of someone weak’.
In the gospel reading, Jesus elaborates on this love which the Spirit inspires. It embraces those who have done nothing to deserve it, our enemy. It is given to those from whom no return of love can be expected. It is a love that is compassionate, that is ready to suffer with others, no matter who they are, and that refuses to condemn others, leaving judgement to God. This quality of love, which is a reflection of God’s love for us, has a much higher value in God’s eyes than any form of knowledge. If knowledge is to serve others well, it needs to be infused by such love. Jesus concludes by declaring that those who love in his way and who allow this love to shape all their other qualities will be opening themselves up to receiving the ‘full measure’ of God’s generous love.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Saint of the Day: Sep 10: – St Peter Claver, religious, missionary, religious founder,
St Peter was a Catalan Jesuit missionary, who worked in Colombia, South America. At the height of the slave trade, he befriended and baptized some 300,000 African slaves over a 40-year period. He died on 8th September 1654.
Paul Hurley tells his extraordinary story.
Peter called himself 'Aethioporum servus (slave of the Africans)', he dedicated himself completely to their welfare. slave of the Negroes for all time; the Spanish Council of Tarragona in 1727 named him 'Apostle of the West Indies'; and Father James Brodrick, the Jesuit historian, described him as 'a fusion in one man of the Curé d'Ars, St Francis Xavier and Fr St Damian de Veuster'.Born in Verdu
A plaque in a small room, now a chapel, in a house in the Catalan village of Verdu, about 50 miles from Barcelona, reads: 'Here St Peter Claver, Apostle of the Negroes, was born in 1580'. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl, whose father had a small farm nearby. When he was thirteen his mother and one of his brothers died within a few days. Soon afterwards his father married again and when his second wife died he married a third time. At sixteen Peter left home for good, going first to Barcelona to study for three years.
Joined the Jesuits Slave trade
In 1602 he joined the Jesuits at Tarragona and three years later he was sent to study philosophy at a Jesuit college in Palma on the island of Majorca. Here he met the man who had the greatest influence on his life, Brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, who was then 80 while Peter was only 25. Alphonsus became his best friend and spiritual director or 'my saintly master', as Peter called him. It was the old brother who encouraged the young student to go as a missionary to South America.
From Palma Peter Claver went back to Barcelona to study theology for two years. Then in 1610 he was among a group of Jesuits who sailed in a 300-ton galleon on a five month voyage to the West Indies. After arriving at Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of what is now Colombia, Claver was sent to Bogotà, the capital. He was told to finish his theology studies here, though he now wanted to be a brother. In 1616 he was ordained a priest at the age of 36 in Cartagena.Slave Trade
Because of its splendid harbour, Cartagena was then the centre of the lucrative slave trade in Spanish America. Here Claver met another Jesuit, Fr Alphonsus Sandoval, who also greatly influenced him. Sandoval had already spent 40 years helping the slaves and when he was transferred to another mission he urged Claver to continue his work in Cartagena.
For 400 years, starting in the 16th century, Britain and France especially, but also Holland, Spain and Portugal transported about 15 million Africans as slaves to work in the mines and plantations of their American colonies. From 1680 to 1786 Britain alone shipped 2,130,000 African slaves to America. This vile trade was eventually abolished by France in 1818, by Spain in 1820 and by Britain in 1833.
10,000 slaves arrived in every year
In Claver's time about 10,000 slaves arrived in Cartagena every year. They came from some 40 areas in Africa, mostly from Angola, where they were bought for one or two reals and then sold for up to 200 reals each in Cartagena. It was big business, like the 'arms trade' and the 'pop music' or pornographic industries today.
'About 400 black men and women, arrive in each small sailing ship,' Father Sandoval reported. 'Usually a third of them die during the two month voyage from Africa. They come with rings around their necks and their feet joined by fetters in pairs, so that they are chained from head to feet. No Spaniard stays long down in the dark hold of the ships, where the Negroes are imprisoned, without the risk of serious illness from the stench, overcrowding and misery of the place and where all kind of diseases soon spread. Once a day they are fed a platter of flour or raw millet and a jug of water. They get plenty of beatings and whippings. With this treatment they arrive like skeletons; they are taken from the ships naked and placed in a great yard. There come endless crowds of people, some to buy slaves, others from curiosity and a few from compassion.'
Claver and his Medicines, Food and Drink
Claver organised his work thoroughly. With Br Nicholas Gonzalez, his assistant for 22 years and first biographer, he had a team of nine Negro interpreters, who spoke various African languages; Claver learned Congolese. Whenever a slave ship arrived he went to the port with medicines, food and drink. He went down into the hell below the decks where no other white man would venture. He washed and dressed the slaves' horrible wounds; he fed them with food he had begged in the city; he baptized the dying and comforted the weary, who had suffered beatings and were homesick.
Sick Slaves and the Local Hospital
When the slaves came ashore he carried the sick and wounded in his arms to a hospital or camp,
where he gave them clothes and more medicine and food. He used his own cloak as a veil to hide their leprous wounds, as a pillow for the sick, as a pall for those who died. It soon became as famous as its owner, for its very touch often cured the sick and, after his death, men fought to tear pieces from it as relics.Visiting the slaves
Only after the slaves were packed into yards to await their sale and where conditions were often worse than on board the ships, it was only then that Claver's real work began. Here he patiently instructed them, partly by means of pictures, and baptized them by the thousand. He did all this not because he liked doing it, but for the love of God. But he did much more. He travelled from village to village across mountains and swamps to visit the slaves, giving them religious instruction every year.
In Cartagena he regularly visited the prisons and prisoners about to be executed. He brought all the slaves of the city and surroundings to the Jesuit church, where he tolerated no segregation. In fact he always gave precedence to the slaves, who were admitted to confession first. 'My confessional is too narrow for hooped petticoats: he told the Spanish ladies who sought him and complained of the smell of the African slaves in the church. On his less busy days he went to the wealthier area of Cartagena to beg for food and clothes.
Physical ProfilePeter Claver was of medium height, with a long thin face, an aquiline nose, large eyes and mouth, a dark complexion and a beard flecked with grey. His expression was usually sad and his head bent down. He wore an old threadbare cassock and carried a staff surmounted by a cross. He dressed like a beggar, wearing old clothes rejected by others,' wrote his biographer Father Andrade SJ. 'His nights consisted of five hours of prayer and three hours of sleep. He meditated regularly on Christ's Passion and he practised extreme mortifications. His only hobby was that he loved music.'
Routine reports about him sent to Rome by his Jesuit superiors read (dated 1616):
'Mental powers, less than mediocre. Judgment, mediocre. Prudence, lacking:
And (dated 1651): Advance in spiritual matters, excellent:
One superior described him as 'a Catalan, pigheaded and difficult'.
Father Valtierra SJ, his best biographer, wrote: 'He rarely smiled. The dreadful human wretchedness which he witnessed, the cruelty of the slave-traders, the desolation of the hospitals - all this, added to his own strained physical powers, his lack of sleep and his penances, brought about the general sadness which was the background to his life. Sadness in him was the fruit of an immense love for a God he saw rejected.' He had three intimate Jesuit friends: Brother (now St) Alphonsus, Father Sandoval and Brother Nicholas.Nine Jesuits died from the plague which struck Cartagena in 1650. Claver never fully recovered from it and was paralysed and confined to bed for his last four years. Ironically, an African, who was assigned to care for him during this time, treated him horribly, though Claver never complained. When news of his death, at the age of 74 on 8 September 1654, reached the city, such big crowds of all kinds of people, many seeking relics, came to the church that soldiers had to be called on to protect his body.
The Jesuits reckoned that in 40 years Peter Claver baptized some 300,000 African slaves, a record unheard of in Church history. When he and his old friend, Br Alphonsus were canonised on the same day in 1888, Pope Leo XIII said, 'No life, except the life of Christ, has so moved me as that of St Peter Claver.
This article first appeared in The Word (September 2004), a Divine Word Missionary Publication.
******************************
Memorable Proverb for Today
At the end of the day.
It's not about what you have or what you have accomplished.
It is about what you have done with those accomplishments.
It's about who you've lifted up, who you have made better.
It's about what you have given back.
~ Denzel Washington, actor ~
******************************
Liturgical Readings for: Thursday, 10th September, 2026
CÉAD LÉACHTSliocht as an céad Litir Naomh Pól chuig na Coirintigh 8:1-7. 11-13
Nuair a pheacaíonn sibh in aghaidh bhur mbráithre is in aghaidh Chríost a dhéanann sibh an peaca dáiríre.
A bhráithre, tuigimid go bhfuil “fios” againn go léir. Mar sin féin cothaíonn an fios seo an mhórchúis, ach is é an grá a dhéanann tógáil. An duine a mhaíonn go bhfuil fios fátha an scéil aige níl fios a ghnó mar ba chóir fós aige, ach an té a bhfuil grá do Dhia aige, tá sé aitheanta ag Dia. Maidir leis an mbia íobartha seo a ithe, is eol dúinn nach bhfuil, dáiríre, bonn ar bith le híola agus nach bhfuil ach an t-aon Dia amháin ann. Tá gan amhras déithe mar dhea ar neamh agus ar talamh – go deimhin tá “déithe” agus “tiarnaí” ann go líonmhar. Mar sin féin níl ann, i dtaca linne de, ach an t-aon Dia amháin, an tAthair arb uaidh an uile ní agus arb ina chomhair atáimidne ann; agus níl ann ach an t-aon Tiarna amháin, Íosa Críost, ar tríd a thagann an uile ní agus ar tríd atáimidne ann chomh maith.
Ní hé gach aon duine a bhfuil an tuiscint seo aige áfach. Tá daoine áirithe ann agus oiread [taithí] acu ar na híola go dtí seo, go gcaitheann siad an bia faoi mar go mbeadh sé íobartha don íol dáiríre agus toisc a gcoinsias a bheith lag fágtar smál dá réir air. An duine lag is bráthair duit agus a bhfuair Críost bás ar a shon, déantar é a mhilleadh le do chuidse eolais. Nuair a pheacaíonn sibh in aghaidh bhur mbráithre ar an gcuma sin agus a gcoinsias lag a ghonadh, is in aghaidh Chríost a dhéanann sibh an peaca dáiríre. Dá chionn sin, má chuireann an bia mo bhráthairse ar a aimhleas, ní bhlaisfidh mé feoil go deo arís ar eagla go gcuirfinn ar a aimhleas é.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le freagra Sm 138
Freagra Seol mé ar shlí na síoraíochta.
1. Scrúdaíonn tú mé, a Thiarna, agus is eol duit mé. más luí dom, más suí dom, is eol duit é;
is eol duit mo rún is mé i bhfad uait. Más siúl dom, más suan dom, feiceann tú;
is eol duit mo shlite go léir. Freagra
2. Óir is tú a dheilbhigh go hiomlán mé; agus a d’fhuaigh i mbroinn mo mháthar mé.
Tugaim buíochas duit de bharr iontas mo dhéantúis; de bhrí gurb éachtach iad d’oibreacha. Freagra
3. Scrúdaigh mé, a Dhia, agus féach mo chroí; déan mo thástáil, agus féach mo smaointe.
Féach an bhfuil drochslí á siúl agam; agus seol mé ar shlí na síoraíochta. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Lúcas 6:27-38 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Bígí sibhse atruach amhail mar atá bhur nAthair atruach
San am sin dúirt Íosa lena dheisceabail:
“Deirim libhse atá ag éisteacht liom:
Bíodh grá agaibh do bhur naimhde, déanaigí an mhaith dóibh seo a thugann fuath daoibh, beannaígí iad seo a thugann mallacht daoibh, guígí orthu seo a dhéanann olc oraibh. An té a bhuaileann ar an leiceann tú, tabhair an leiceann eile leis chomh maith; agus an té a thógann uait do bhrat, ná coinnigh uaidh do chóta. Gach aon duine a iarrann aisce ort, tabhair dó í, agus an té a bhaineann díot do chuid, ná hiarr ar ais uaidh é. Dé réir mar ab áil libh daoine a dhéanamh daoibh, déanaigí dóibh sin mar an gcéanna. Má thugann sibh grá dóibh seo a thugann grá daoibh, cad é an buíochas atá oraibh?
Óir tugann na peacaigh féin grá dóibh seo a thugann grá dóibh.
Agus má dhéanann sibh an mhaith dóibh seo a dhéanann an mhaith daoibh, cad é an buíochas atá oraibh? Déanann na peacaigh féin an rud céanna.
Agus má thugann sibh iasacht dóibh seo gur dóigh mhaith agaibh iad, cad é an buíochas atá oraibh? Fiú amháin peacaigh, tugann siad iasacht do pheacaigh chun go bhfaighidís an oiread céanna ar ais. Ach bíodh grá agaibh do bhur naimhde, déanaigí an mhaith agus tugaigí iasacht gan súil le cúiteamh ar bith, agus is mór é bhur dtuarastal, agus beidh sibh in bhur gclann don Té is Airde, óir bíonn seisean lách le daoine díomaíocha agus le drochdhaoine.
Bígí sibhse atruach amhail mar atá bhur nAthair atruach. Ná tugaigí breith agus ní thabharfar breith oraibh. Ná daoraigí agus ní dhaorfar sibh. Maithigí agus maithfear daoibh. Tugaigí agus tabharfar daoibh: tomhas maith, fuinte, craite, cruachta a chuirfear chugaibh in bhur n-ucht; óir is leis an tomhas lena dtomhaiseann sibh a thomhaisfear chugaibh ar ais.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 13th September, 2026
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus ) 27:30-28:7
Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.
Resentment and anger, these are foul things, and both are found with the sinner. He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord, who keeps strict account of sin. Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.If a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord? Showing no pity for a man like himself, can he then plead for his own sins? Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment; who will forgive him his sins?
Remember the last things, and stop hating,
remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments.
Remember the commandments, and do not bear your neighbour ill-will;
remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 102: 1-4. 9-12. R/ v 8
Response The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
1. My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings. Response
2. It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals everyone of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. Response
3. His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever.
He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults. Response
4. For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our sins. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 14:7-9
Alive or dead we belong to the Lord.
The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord;
and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord.
This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation 1 Sam 3:9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or Jn 13: 34
Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment: love one another,
just as I have loved you, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 18:21-35
I tell you, not seven, but seventy-seven times.
Peter went up to Jesus and said,
'Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?'
Jesus answered, 'Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.
'And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master's feet. "Give me time" he said "and I will pay the whole sum."
And the servant's master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt.
Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him.
"Pay what you owe me" he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, "Give me time and I will pay you". But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt.
His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him.
"You wicked servant," he said "I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?" And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.
And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless
you each forgive your brother from your heart.'
The Gospel of the Lord Glory to you, O Lord
*********************************
For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 13th September, 2026
CÉAD LÉACHTSliocht as an Leabhar Shíorach 27:30-28:7
Maith do do chomharsa an éagóir a dhéanann sé, agus nuair a dhéanfaidh tú guí, maithfear do pheacaí duit.
Fearg agus fraoch, is duáilcí déistineacha iad sin,
agus gheofar iad i seilbh an pheacaigh.
An té a imríonn díoltas, imreoidh an Tiarna díoltas air,
mar coinníonn sé cuntas cruinn ar a pheacaí.
Maith do do chomharsa an éagóir a dhéanann sé,
agus nuair a dhéanfaidh tú guí, maithfear do pheacaí duit.
Má choimeádann duine olc istigh do dhuine eile,
conas is féidir leis leigheas a lorg ar an Tiarna?
Mura ndéanann sé trócaire ar dhuine cosúil leis féin,
conas is féidir leis maithiúnas a iarraidh ina pheacaí féin?
Níl ann féin ach feoil agus cothaíonn sé fuath; cé a mhaithfidh a pheacaí dó?
Cuimhnigh ar do chríoch dheireanach, agus scoir den fhuath;
cuimhnigh ar an scrios agus an bás, agus mair de réir na n-aitheanta.
Cuimhnigh ar na haitheanta agus ná bíodh olc agat do do chomharsa;
cuimhnigh ar chonradh an Té is Airde, agus ná tóg ceann den aineolas.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 102: 1-4. 9-12. R/ v 8
Freagra Is grámhar trócaireach é an Tiarna,
foighneach agus lán dé cheansacht.
1. Gabh buíochas leis an Tiarna, a anam liom, beannaíodh a bhfuil istigh ionam a ainm naofa.
Gabh buíochas leis an Tiarna, a an am liom, is ná déan dearmad da thíolací go léir. Freagra
2. Eisean a mhaitheann do chionta go léir, a shlánaíonn d'easláintí go léir,
a fhuasclaíonn do bheatha on mbás, a chorónaíonn thú le grá is le trua. Freagra
3. Ní bheidh sé go míchéata i gcónaí, ní bheidh sé i bhfeirg de shíor.
Ní de réir ár bpeacaí a roinneann sé linn: ní de réir ár gcionta a chúitíonn sé sinn. Freagra
4. Óir ní airdé neamh os cionn talún ná méid a bhuanghrá do lucht a eaglaithe;
ní faide an t-oirthear ón iarthar ná an fad a chuireann sé ár gcionta uainn[. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as céad Litir Naomh Pól chuig na Rómhánaigh 14:7-9
Má mhairimid beo nó más bás a fhaighimid is don Tiarna a fhaighimid bás chomh maith.
A bhráithre, ní dó féin a mhaireann aon duine againn ná ní dó féin a fhaigheann sé bás. Má mhairimid beo is don Tiarna a mhairimid, agus más bás a fhaighimid is don Tiarna a fhaighimid bás chomh maith. Cibé acu beo nó marbh dúinn, mar sin, is leis an Tiarna sinn. Mar is chuige seo a fuair Críost bás agus a d’éirigh beo: chun go mbeadh tiarnas ar bheo agus ar mhairbh araon aige.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Alleluia Véarsa 1Sam3:9, Eo 6:68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Labhair, a Thiarna, tá do sheirbhíseach ag éisteacht.
Is agatsa atá briathra na beatha síoraí.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Mhatha 18:21-35
Ní go dtí seacht n-uaire a deirimse leat ach go dtí seacht n-uaire seachtód.
Tháinig Peadar chuig Íosa ansin agus dúirt leis:
“A Thiarna, cé mhéad uair ba cheart dom pardún a thabhairt do mo bhráthair nuair a chiontaíonn i m’aghaidh? Go dtí seacht n-uaire?”
Dúirt Íosa leis: “Ní go dtí seacht n-uaire a deirimse leat ach go dtí seacht n-uaire seachtód.
“Agus dá réir sin is iad dála ríocht na bhflaitheas mar a bhí ag rí arbh áil leis cuntais a réiteach lena chuid seirbhíseach. Agus i dtosach an réitigh dó, tugadh chuige duine a raibh deich míle tallann amuigh air. Agus ó tharla gan an t-íoc a bheith aige, d’ordaigh an maistir é a dhíol, agus a bhean agus a chlann agus a raibh aige, agus an t-íoc a dhéanamh. Mar sin, chaith an seirbhíseach é féin ar lár, agus ag umhlú dó dúirt: ‘Bíodh foighne agat liom a mháistir, agus íocfaidh mé an t-iomlán leat.’
Agus le barr trua, scaoil máistir an tseirbhísigh sin uaidh é agus mhaith na fiacha dó. Ag dul amach don seirbhíseach sin, casadh air duine dá chomhsheirbhísigh a raibh céad déanar aige féin air, agus rug sé greim scóige air ag rá: ‘Íoc a bhfuil amuigh ort!’ Mar sin, chaith a chomhsheirbhíseach é féin ar lár ag achainí air: ‘Bíodh foighne agat liom,’ ar seisean, ‘agus íocfaidh mé leat é.’ Ach níorbh áil leis siúd é gan dul agus é theilgean i bpríosún nó go n-íocfadh sé na fiacha.
Nuair a chonaic a chomhsheirbhísigh an méid sin, ghabh buaireamh mór iad, agus chuaigh siad ag insint an scéil ar fad dá máistir. Chuir an máistir fios air: ‘A sheirbhísigh mhallaithe,’ ar seisean, ‘mhaith mé féin duitse na fiacha úd ar fad mar go ndearna tú achainí orm. Nár cheart go ndéanfása mar an gcéanna trócaire ar do chomhsheirbhíseach faoi mar a rinne mise trócaire ort?’
Agus le barr feirge thug a mháistir suas do na céastúnaigh é nó go n-íocfadh sé na fiacha leis go hiomlán.
Sin é freisin mar a dhéanfaidh m’Athair neamhaí libhse ach mura maitheannm gach duine agaibh dá bhráthair féin ó chroí.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
