Every April 6 the Church remembers San Pedro de VeronaDominican priest and friar, theologian, preacher and member of the Court of the Holy Office. San Pedro Mártir, as he is also known, was the second member of the Order of Preachers to be canonized (the first was Santo Domingo de Guzman, its founder), only eleven months after his death, so that his canonization process is considered the shortest in history.
Pedro de Verona is also told among the martyrs. Being a brave preacher, he fulfilled his mission to the point of giving life for Christ. His preaching was dedicated to fighting the mistakes of his time, especially the heresy of the Cathars or Albigenses, who, in the thirteenth century, had extended their “Christian Manichaeism” with relative success by Western Europe, including the center and northern Italy, where the saint was originally.
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Bran from error
San Pedro Mártir was born in Verona, Lombardy Region (Italy), in 1205. Although his parents were linked to Catarism, Pedro took distance from that doctrine thanks to his stay at the University of Bologna. After studying in that academic enclosure, he received the Dominican habit from the founder of the Order, Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
According to Blessed Santiago de la Vorágine, San Pedro was a great connoisseur of the Holy Scriptures and an example of purity, austerity and firmness in defense of faith. Precisely this hagiographer emphasizes that Pedro de Verona, even having been part of a family “emotional for error”, knew how to “keep immune” to the bad doctrine. Proof of this was his soon entry to the order of preachers, already known for his orthodoxy and the high standards of intellectual formation. In Bologna he had a close treatment with several futures saints, among which Santo Domingo stood out.
Tireless preacher and doctrine guardian
After the ecclesiastical training stage, Pedro was ordered priest. His evangelizing impulse led him to teach the doctrine with righteousness and care. He received the commission to combat heretics in Vercelli, Rome, Florence and other cities in northern Italy. He instituted the so -called “associations of faith” and the “brotherhood for the praise of the Virgin Mary”, with remarkable success in places like Milan and Perugia.
In 1248 he was appointed prior of the Dominican monastery of Asti and one year after Piacenza. In 1251, Pope Innocent IV appointed him inquisitor (member of the Court of the Holy Office) of Lombardy and prior of how unfortunately, while his fame extended, his enemies made plans to get rid of him.
Witness
The plot against him was executed on April 6, 1252, when the saint returned from Milan to the monastery of how, located near the town of Barlassina. San Pedro de Verona was attacked by a man named Carino de Bálsamo, who struck him two blows of ax on his head. Pedro, while dying, and with the last forces they had left, wrote on the ground with his own blood: “I believe in God.”
On March 9, 1253, only one year after being killed, he was canonized by Pope Innocent IV. His body was transferred to Milan and his remains rest today in the church of San Eustorgio in that city.
If you want to know more about this saint you can read this article of the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Verona
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Central writing
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