VEYO Patron Saints

Bl. Pedro Calungsod

Born: 1655 in the Philippines
Died: April 2, 1672 at Tomhom, Guam
Beatified: March 5, 2000
Canonized: pending
Feast Day: April 2
Patron Saint of: Youth

Educated by the Jesuits in the Visayas, Philippines, Pedro could read, write and speak Visayan, Spanish and Chamorro. He learnt to paint, draw, sing, and work as a carpenter. His deep faith made him a teenage catechist who worked with Spanish Jesuit missionaries to the violent Chamorros in the Ladrones Islands (modern Marianas) in 1668. Through their efforts, many receive the sacraments, but a plot to kill Pedro started when a certain Choco, a Chinese who gained influence over the Macanas of Marianas Island and circulated false accusations that the missionaries were spreading poison through the ritual of the pouring of water, i.e. baptism, and through the ritual of Catholic Masses. Because he was a Christian on a mission to catechize the Chamorros, Pedro was murdered by two natives, who hacked him to death and threw his mutilated body into the sea. He died trying to defend Father Diego Luis de San Vitores.

For more info go to

• http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/saintp86.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Calungsod