Blessed Peter Armengol
Blessed Peter Armengol (Catalan: Pere Armengol; born c. 1238 AD at La Guàrdia dels Prats, near Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain; died 1304 AD at La Guàrdia dels Prats) was a Spanish Catholic friar of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom (the Mercedarians) who devoted his life to the ransoming of Christian captives held by the Moors of North Africa. According to tradition he offered himself as a hostage in exchange for a group of young Christians and was hanged, surviving the ordeal by what his order attributes to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] His feast day is April 27.
Born into a noble Catalan family said to descend from the barons of Rocafort, Peter Armengol spent a wayward youth as an outlaw before a dramatic conversion led him to enter the Mercedarians around 1258.[2] He undertook the dangerous work of redeeming captives in the lands still under Muslim rule, both in Spain and across the Mediterranean in Bugia (modern Béjaïa, Algeria).[3]
His immemorial cult was confirmed by Pope Innocent XI on March 28, 1686, and his name was inserted into the Roman Martyrology in 1688.[2][1] The Mercedarian Order venerates him as one of its principal saints.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Peter Armengol
| Blessed Peter Armengol | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | April 27 |
| Profession | Friar; ransomer of captives |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Order of Our Lady of Ransom (Mercedarians) |
| Patronage | Conversion of young people |
| Attributes | Mercedarian habit; noose or rope around the neck (referring to his hanging); palm |
| Birthplace | La Guàrdia dels Prats, near Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Death Place | La Guàrdia dels Prats, near Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Cause of Death | Natural causes in 1304, following years of penance; venerated as a confessor and quasi-martyr for the sufferings (including hanging) endured while ransoming captives |
| Primary Shrine | Hermitage of La Guàrdia dels Prats, Tarragona, Spain (where his relics are preserved) |
| Liturgical Class | Not included in the General Roman Calendar; observed by the Mercedarian Order and in the Archdiocese of Tarragona |
| Historic Class | Not included in the universal 1960 calendar; kept in the Mercedarian proper |
Biography
Birth and family
Peter Armengol was born around the year 1238 at La Guàrdia dels Prats, a village in the district of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain.[1][3] Tradition holds that he belonged to a noble family connected to the barons of Rocafort, descendants of the counts of Urgell, and thus linked to the ruling houses of the Crown of Aragon.[3] The exact date of his birth is not recorded; sources place it around 1238.[2]
Early life as an outlaw
According to the accounts preserved by his order, the young Armengol fell into a violent and dissolute life, becoming the leader of a band of brigands who preyed on travellers in the countryside of Catalonia.[1] Hagiographic tradition relates that his conversion came about dramatically: in one telling he confronted, at the head of his band, the retinue of his own father, and, overcome with shame, abandoned his lawless life.[2] Other accounts recall that his defiance had brought him into conflict with the forces of King James I of Aragon, from whom he received and was later pardoned a sentence of death.[1]
Entry into the Order of Mercy
Following his conversion, Peter Armengol entered the Order of Our Lady of Ransom, founded by Saint Peter Nolasco for the redemption of Christians held captive by the Moors. Sources place his entry around 1258, and he was received, according to tradition, by an early successor of the founder.[2][3] He distinguished himself by a rigorous spirit of penance, seeking to atone for the sins of his youth.[1]
The Order of Mercy, or Mercedarians, had been established in early thirteenth-century Barcelona with a distinctive fourth vow: to give oneself as a hostage, if necessary, for the deliverance of captives whose faith was in danger. This vocation shaped the whole of Armengol's later life.
Ransoming of captives
Armengol was entrusted with the ransom of captives in the regions of Spain still under Muslim control, a work he carried out over several years.[3] He then sailed to North Africa, and in an expedition dated by the order to about 1266 he arrived at the port of Bugia — modern Béjaïa in Algeria — in the company of a fellow friar, Guillermo (William) Florentino.[1][3] There they succeeded in ransoming a large group of captives; the sources record their number as about one hundred eighteen.[1]
The hanging at Bugia
Word reached the friars of a group of young Christians who, in despair at their captivity, were in danger of renouncing their faith. Unable to secure their immediate release, Peter Armengol offered himself as a hostage in their place, pledging that the ransom would be brought.[3] When the appointed time passed and the money had not arrived, he was, according to tradition, hanged from a tree by his captors.[1][3]
When Friar Guillermo returned with the ransom several days later, he is said to have found Armengol still alive upon the gallows — a deliverance the Mercedarians have always attributed to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] For this reason he is depicted in art with a rope or noose about his neck.[3] Tradition holds that he bore the marks and a bent neck from the ordeal for the rest of his life, and he came to be honoured as a martyr who did not die.[2]
Later life and death
Having survived, Armengol returned to Spain and withdrew to the Mercedarian convent at La Guàrdia dels Prats, where he lived his remaining years in great austerity and penance.[1][2] He died there in 1304.[1] His relics are preserved to the present day in the hermitage of La Guàrdia dels Prats, and Mercedarian tradition holds his body to have remained incorrupt.[1]
Significant events
- Renounced a life of banditry and, after a pardon, entered the Order of Our Lady of Ransom around 1258.
- Ransomed Christian captives in Muslim-held Spain and, about 1266, at Bugia (Béjaïa) in North Africa.
- Offered himself as a hostage for a group of young Christians and, according to tradition, survived hanging.
- Died in 1304 at La Guàrdia dels Prats after years of penance.
- His immemorial cult was confirmed by Pope Innocent XI on March 28, 1686, and inscribed in the Roman Martyrology in 1688.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: La Guàrdia dels Prats, near Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Death location: La Guàrdia dels Prats, near Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Notable location: North African port where he ransomed Christian captives and, according to tradition, was hanged as a hostage (Bugia (Béjaïa), Algeria)
Notable location: Regional seat near his birthplace and the Mercedarian sphere of his ransoming work (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain)
Notable location:
Notable location:
Notable location:
Dynamic content
Parishes
No parishes dedicated to Peter Armengol have been added to the database yet.
Media
No media found for this saint.
Shrines
Dynamic shrines
No results
No shrines where this saint is the primary saint.
Canonization
Beatification (confirmation of cult)
The veneration of Peter Armengol as Blessed rests on the confirmation of his immemorial cult — an equipollent beatification — granted by Pope Innocent XI on March 28, 1686.[2][1] His feast was subsequently added to the Roman Martyrology in 1688.[2] He has not been formally canonized, though the Mercedarian Order honours him among its saints.[1]
Feast day
April 27
Veneration
Blessed Peter Armengol is venerated especially by the Order of Our Lady of Ransom and in the Archdiocese of Tarragona. His relics are kept in the hermitage of La Guàrdia dels Prats, which remains a place of local pilgrimage.[1] In sacred art he is readily identified by the noose about his neck and the Mercedarian habit, and he is invoked as a patron for the conversion of young people.[2]
Prayers
Authored
There are prayers authored by this saint in prayers list yet.
Intercessory
There are no prayers asking for this saint's intercession in prayers list yet.
External links
- Order of Mercy (Mercedarian Friars) – Saint Peter Armengol
- CatholicSaints.Info – Blessed Peter Armengol
- The American TFP – Saint Peter Armengol
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Order of Mercy (Mercedarian Friars), "Saint Peter Armengol," orderofmercy.org.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 CatholicSaints.Info, "Blessed Peter Armengol," citing the Book of Saints (Monks of Ramsgate), the Roman Martyrology (1914 edition), Katherine Rabenstein's Saints of the Day, and Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 The American TFP / America Needs Fatima, "Saint Peter Armengol."