As a nineteen-year-old college student, I first stumbled upon Saint Peregrine in a small chapel somewhere in Europe. Surrounded by hundreds of candles, this little chapel tucked away in the back of a larger church caught my eye. Why did this particular chapel have such a draw that so many left their candle offerings there? Who was this Saint who, although covered in candle smoke, prominently had his leg showing a large gash? As I figured out who he was, I too became one of the pilgrims to leave a candle.
Canonized in 1726, 381 years after his death, his feast day is May 2. In 1260, he was born the only son in a wealthy Italian family , which was tied very closely to politics at the time. As a result of this political involvement, his family was staunchly anti-papist in a time when the pope had great secular and spiritual power. Peregrine went so far as to hit the papal representative that had been sent to calm down a local uprising. This papal representative, Philip Benzini—himself a canonized saint—turned and offered Peregrine the other cheek. Eighteen-year-old Peregrine, overcome by Saint Philip’s humility and concrete living of the Gospel, is said to have run three miles after Saint Philip, repented, and asked for his forgiveness. Thus began his conversion, and a few years later, he joined the Servite Order. His conversion led him to be a merciful priest.
A good priest, as well as a popular confessor and preacher, he went on to found a Servite monastery in Forli, Italy. It was in this monastery that there occurred the event which led to his patronage as a saint. He developed a cancerous growth on his foot. It was not only painful, but also caused a stench, causing people to turn away from him. The doctors could not provide relief, except with amputation. Crawling to the chapel, he spent the night before the operation in prayer, begging the Lord to spare his leg. The following morning he was completely cured! News of this miracle became widespread and his popularity increased even more. He lived to be 80, and his popularity after his death spread throughout Europe. He is known as the patron saint of cancer and running sores.
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Answered Prayers?
I began praying to him as a young 19-year-old for a dear friend of the family, my kindergarten teacher, who was suffering from breast cancer that had metastasized all over her body. She passed away three years later.
Five years later, I asked for his help for my uncle, dying of liver cancer. He passed away after a short battle with cancer.
About five years after that, I began praying to him again, this time for my dad, who had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Three years later, he also passed away .
Did those prayers go unseen, unheard by Saint Peregrine? Was he too busy with the countless souls suffering this horrible illness? Did it even matter? Why didn’t this wonder worker work wonders for me?
Even though I didn’t get the outcome I was hoping for in my prayers and Saint Peregrine’s intercession, those prayers were heard, seen, and answered.
My dear kindergarten teacher, who had introduced my parents, became a radical prayer warrior through the Rosary during her battle with cancer. My mom went to visit her every week, which witnessed to me the gift of friendship and intercession, through the corporal works of mercy she did without thinking, purely out of love.
My uncle was reconciled to the Church shortly before he passed away.
My dad gave the witness on how to bear suffering patiently to all of us, saying on occasion, “This is the cross I’ve been asked to bear.” Our family grew closer during this time, and again, my mom was heroic in her witness and care for him. He passed on Trinity Sunday, during the Divine Mercy hour, while we were praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced a moment more holy than when he passed from here to eternity.
“Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!”
“Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!” is one of the Servite mottos, and this is how Saint Peregrine interceded in my life. In the dear ones who have battled cancer—not just these I shared, but also friends and classmates from college—these words describe how they lived after their diagnosis: “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!” For those suffering with cancer, the veil between heaven and earth becomes even thinner, and a strength, trust, and hope that is only from God gives them the grace to be there. For those of us entrusted to take care of those with cancer, being at their side is a privileged place to see God.
Saint Peregrine is always at work interceding for those with cancer. Ask his prayers and see the good he can bring about. It may look different than you imagined, but it will be good. God is always working about our good and for our good, and He listens to Saint Peregrine’s prayers that we become better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today. He intercedes for us to become saints, and there is no better gift than that.
Sr. Mary Claire of the Holy Family is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) and currently serves in Corpus Christi, TX. She loves Jesus and Mary, and her students would say every Saint is her favorite. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and is currently working on a Masters in Theology from her Alma Mater, Franciscan University. A Tennessee girl who could live off Dr. Pepper and popcorn, she loves road trips, especially this one we are on to Heaven.
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