St. Peter Martyr

Feast Day: June 4

Peter was born at Verona, Italy around 1205 of Manichean parents.

While a student at Bologna, he entered the Order of Preachers, receiving the habit from the hands of Saint Dominic. Full of zeal for the purity of the faith he preached the word of God and brought many people back to the true faith. His concern for the growth of the faith among the laity led him to establish the Confraternity in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Association of the Faith. He earnestly promoted community life and served the brethren as prior. Towards the end of his life he received the office of inquisitor, which he carried out to great effect. On April 6, 1252, while returning from Como to Milan he was set upon by a group of heretics and was fatally stabbed.

As he lay dying on the roadway, he wrote on the ground with his own blood his final testament to the Catholic doctrine which he had so staunchly defended in life: Credo in unum Deum.