Saint Peter Sanz

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Saint Peter Sanz (Spanish/Catalan: Pedro Sanz y Jordá; religious name Pedro Mártir, "Peter Martyr"; born September 22, 1680 AD at Ascó, in the Ribera d'Ebre, province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain; died May 26, 1747 AD at Fuzhou (Foochow), Fujian, China) was a Spanish Dominican friar, missionary, and titular bishop who laboured for more than thirty years in the Chinese mission and was beheaded for the faith during the persecution of the province of Fujian. As vicar apostolic of Fujian he governed a hidden Christian community until his arrest, and he died the first of a group of Dominican martyrs of that persecution. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on May 14, 1893, and canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000, among the 120 Martyr Saints of China. His feast is kept on July 9 with those martyrs.[1][2]

Born in Catalonia and baptized Joseph, he took the name Peter Martyr on entering the Order of Preachers at Lérida. After ordination he volunteered for the missions of the Far East, preparing in the Philippines before entering China in 1715. Named coadjutor and then vicar apostolic of Fujian, and consecrated a bishop, he ministered furtively for decades amid recurrent persecution.[1][2]

When a fierce persecution broke out in Fujian in 1746, Peter Sanz and four fellow Dominicans were seized. Sanz was condemned and beheaded at Fuzhou on May 26, 1747; his four companions — the bishop-elect Francisco Serrano, Joaquín Royo, Juan Alcober, and Francisco Díaz — were strangled in prison the following year, on October 28, 1748.[1][3]

Stored in Cargo: Saint Peter Sanz

Saint Peter Sanz
Feast Day July 09
Profession Priest; missionary; bishop (vicar apostolic of Fujian)
Rel. Affiliation Catholic Church; Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
Patronage Chinese missions; venerated among the Martyr Saints of China
Attributes Bishop's mitre and crozier; Dominican habit; palm of martyrdom; sword
Birthplace Ascó, Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Death Place Fuzhou (Foochow), Fujian, China
Cause of Death Martyrdom by beheading at Fuzhou on May 26, 1747, during the persecution of Christians in Fujian
Liturgical Class Optional Memorial (with the Martyr Saints of China / Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions)
Historic Class Not in the 1960 calendar


Biography

Birth and Dominican vocation

Peter Sanz was born on September 22, 1680, at Ascó, a town in the Ribera d'Ebre district of the province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain (in the older diocese of Tortosa).[1][2] Baptized Joseph, he entered the Order of Preachers at the convent of Lérida at about the age of eighteen, professing his vows in 1697 and taking in religion the name of Peter Martyr, after the Dominican martyr Peter of Verona.[1][2] He completed his theological studies and was ordained a priest in 1704.[1]

Mission to China

Drawn to the foreign missions, Sanz was assigned to the East and sent in 1713 to the Philippines, then a base for the Spanish Dominican mission to China, where he spent about two years learning the Chinese language.[1] In 1715 he entered Fujian Province in southern China and joined the Christian community there, beginning a ministry that would last more than thirty years, carried on largely in secret because of the precarious and often illegal position of Christianity under the Qing emperors.[1][2]

Bishop and vicar apostolic

In January 1728 the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith named Sanz coadjutor vicar apostolic of Fujian, assigning him the titular see of Mauricastro (Maurocastrum).[1] He was consecrated a bishop on February 22, 1730, and succeeded to the full charge of the vicariate apostolic of Fujian in January 1732.[1] For years he lived hidden in the houses of Christians, moving secretly to administer the sacraments and to sustain the scattered mission through repeated waves of hostility.[1][2]

Persecution, arrest, and martyrdom

A severe persecution against the Christians of Fujian broke out in 1746 under the Qianlong Emperor. Three of the missionaries — Fathers Francisco Serrano, Juan Alcober, and Francisco Díaz — were arrested first and tortured to force them to reveal the whereabouts of the bishop; on learning this, Sanz, together with Father Joaquín Royo, gave himself up rather than let others suffer on his account.[3] The five Dominicans were imprisoned and cruelly treated at Fuzhou (Foochow), the provincial capital, and condemned to death.[3]

Peter Sanz was beheaded at Fuzhou on May 26, 1747, the first of the group to die.[1][2] His four companions remained in prison and were put to death — strangled — on October 28, 1748.[3] Tradition relates that Sanz's constancy and preaching in prison moved many, and that he converted a number of his fellow prisoners and guards.[1]

Significant events

  • Professed as a Dominican at Lérida (1697), taking the name Peter Martyr; ordained priest (1704).
  • Sent to the Philippines (1713) to prepare for the China mission, entering Fujian in 1715.
  • Named coadjutor vicar apostolic of Fujian (1728) and consecrated bishop (1730); became vicar apostolic (1732).
  • Ministered in hiding for over thirty years amid persecution.
  • Arrested in the Fujian persecution of 1746 and imprisoned at Fuzhou.
  • Beheaded for the faith at Fuzhou on May 26, 1747; his four Dominican companions martyred October 28, 1748.
  • Beatified by Pope Leo XIII (May 14, 1893) and canonized by Pope John Paul II (October 1, 2000) among the Martyr Saints of China.

Significant locations

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Legend

  • Birth location icon Birth location: Ascó, Ribera d'Ebre, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
  • Death location icon Death location: Fuzhou (Foochow), Fujian, China
  • Notable location 1 icon Notable location: Birthplace (Ascó, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain)
  • Notable location 2 icon Notable location: Where he entered the Dominican Order and made his profession (Lérida (Lleida), Catalonia, Spain)
  • Notable location 3 icon Notable location: Where he prepared for the China mission and studied the Chinese language (Manila, Philippines)
  • Notable location 4 icon Notable location: His mission field, where he served as vicar apostolic (Fujian Province, China)
  • Notable location 5 icon Notable location: Place of his imprisonment and martyrdom (Fuzhou (Foochow), Fujian, China)

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Parishes

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Shrines

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Canonization

Beatification

Peter Sanz was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on May 14, 1893, together with companions of the Chinese missions.[1][2]

Canonization

He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000, in Saint Peter's Square, Rome, as one of the 120 Martyr Saints of China (the group commemorated under the title of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions).[1][2]

Feast day

July 09 (with the Martyr Saints of China)

Veneration

Saint Peter Sanz is venerated among the Martyr Saints of China, whose collective feast is observed on July 9, and is honoured in a particular way by the Order of Preachers, to which he and his fellow martyrs of Fujian belonged. He is remembered as a bishop who shared the hidden and dangerous life of his flock and gave his life for the faith he had preached in China for more than three decades. In art he is shown in the Dominican habit with the insignia of a bishop and the palm of martyrdom.[1]

Prayers

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Intercessory

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External links

References

  1. ↑ 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 "Peter Sanz," Wikipedia.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Sanz y Jordá, Pedro Mártir, St.," New Catholic Encyclopedia, via Encyclopedia.com.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "1747 – Pedro Martyr Sanz," Asia Harvest (China Martyrs).
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