Saint Peter Canisius - April 27 (Jesuits)
Also known as
Hammer of Protestantism
Peter Kanis
Peter Kannees
Peter Kanys
Petrus Canisius
Petrus Kanis
Second Apostle of Germany
Memorial
21 December
formerly 27 April
15 December (Ambrosian Rite)
Profile
Son of Jacob Canisius, a wealthy burgomeister, and Ægidia van Houweningen, who died shortly after Peter’s birth. Educated in Cologne, Germany, studying art, civil law and theology. He was an excellent student, and received a master’s degree by age 19; his closest friends at university were monks and clerics. Joined in the Jesuits on 8 May 1543 after attending a retreat conducted by Blessed Peter Faber. Taught at the University of Cologne, and helped found the first Jesuit house in the city. Ordained in 1546. Theologian of Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, Bishop of Augsburg in 1547. He travelled and worked with Saint Ignatius of Loyola who was his spiritual director in Rome, Italy. Taught rhetoric in Messina, Sicily in 1548, preaching in Italian and Latin. Doctor of theology in 1549. Began teaching theology and preaching at Ingolstadt, Germany in 1549. Rector of the university in 1550. Began teaching theology, preaching in the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Vienna, Austria in 1552; the royal court confessor, he continued to worked in hospitals and prisons, and during Lent in 1553 he travelled to preach in abandoned parishes in Lower Austria. During Mass one day he received a vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and ever after offered his work to the Sacred Heart. He led the Counter-Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Switzerland, and his work led to the return of Catholicism to Germany. His catechism went through 200 editions during his life, and was translated into 12 languages; in some places catechisms were referred to as Canisi. Attended the Diet of Augsburg in 1555. Founded Jesuit colleges in Ingolstadt, Prague, Dillingen, and Fribourg. Jesuit provincial superior. Attended the Diet of Ratisbon in 1556 and 1557. Everywhere he worked he became a noted preacher, and often worked with children, teaching them and hearing their confessions. Represented Pope Paul IV at the imperial Diet of Pieternow. Addressed the Council of Trent on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Recommended Saint Stanislaus Kostka for reception as a Jesuit. Court preacher to Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria. While in Fribourg, Switzerland, he received a message from the city’s patron saint, Nicholas of Myra, that he should stop travelling; Canisius spent the rest of his life there. He taught, preached, edited books, and worked to support the Catholic press and printers in many cities; his advice was sought by Saint Francis de Sales, and by his friend Saint Charles Borromeo. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.
Born
8 May 1521 at Niemguen, Netherlands
Died
21 December 1597 at Fribourg, Switzerland of natural causes
interred before the high altar of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Fribourg
relics translated to the Church of Saint Michael at the Jesuit College in Fribourg in 1625
Beatified
23 November 1864 by Pope Pius IX at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy
Canonized
21 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI
Patronage
Catholic press
writers of catechisms
–
Germany
–
in Germany
Nijmegen
Representation
with his catechism and other books
teaching a group of children
Ivan Tomas
Our Lady of Montserrat
—
Adelelmus of Le Mans
Asicus of Elphin
Bartolomeo da Vittoria
Damaride
Enoder
Floribert of Liege
Hosanna of Cattaro
Jakov Varingez
John of Kathara
Joseph Outhay Phongphumi
Laurensô Nguyen Van Huong
Liberalis of Treviso
Maria Antonia Bandrés y Elósegui
Maughold
Nicolas Roland
Noël Tenaud
Palladius I of Bourges
Peter Armengol
Pollio of Cybalae
Simeon of Jerusalem
Tertullian of Bologna
Theodore of Tabenna
Theophilus of Brescia
Umberto di Miribel
Winewald of Beverley
Zita of Lucca
—
All the Holy Bishops of Verona, Italy
Martyrs of Nicomedia
Martyred in Tarsus
Castor of Tarsus
Stephen of Tarsus
—
Iacobus Yun Yu-o
Rinald of Foligno
Stephen of Pecera
Doctor of the Church (1521-1597)
Born in 1521 of a distinguished family of Holland, Saint Peter Canisius studied in Cologne and received his license as doctor of civil law; he then went to Louvain (Belgium) to learn canon law. These studies followed close upon the days when Luther had burnt the papal bulls at Wittenberg, Germany. Soon Saint Peter, become a Jesuit, was teaching at the University of Cologne; he was there when the unfortunate archbishop of that city fell into the new heresy. The Catholics who desired to depose him needed a deputy to the emperor to present their request, and Saint Peter was chosen.
His mission, seconded by the Holy Spirit, succeeded; and the deputy was remarked by a Cardinal, who desired to send him to the Council of Trent as his representative and theologian. Saint Peter’s superior, Saint Ignatius of Loyola himself, approved this choice, and the young Jesuit took his place among the Fathers of the Council. He was commissioned to draft a memoir on the exact nature of the errors being propagated in the lands of the reform, in consort with the Pope’s theologian, another Jesuit named Jacques Laynez. Their work was admired; the Council was dissolved soon afterwards, however, and Saint Peter was recalled to Rome by Saint Ignatius, to consult with him concerning the formation of the religious and the future of their Order.
Afterwards Saint Peter and two other Jesuits founded a college at Ingolstadt, going there with only two books in their baggage, the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and the famous Ratio Studiorum, or Plan of Studies of their Order. Saint Peter was named Rector of the University by that institution.
He was in demand everywhere; King Ferdinand of Rome obtained his presence for Vienna. A pestilence broke out there, and he was most often found at the bedside of the dying, caring for the bodies and regenerating the souls of the unfortunate citizens. He opened a boarding school for boys, and Vienna soon found itself reborn in the faith: the famous Catechism of Saint Peter Canisius had much to do with the renovation. During his lifetime it appeared in more than 200 editions, in at least twelve languages. It remains a monument of the triumph of the Church over error in the time of Luther.
Its author had tried to keep his name a secret but did not succeed, and then several nations disputed the honor of his presence. But Saint Peter was Provincial of Germany, named by Saint Ignatius, and he concerned himself above all with the colleges at Prague, Ingolstadt and Munich. Until his death in 1597 the Apostle of Germany continued the valiant and perpetual combat of the Church against error. For a long time forgotten, Saint Peter was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1927.
www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/04-27.htm