![]() |
Blessed Peter To Rot, Intercede for us ! |
βͺ Saint of the Day : July 7
βͺ Born :
1912 in Rakunai, East New Britain (part of modern Papua New Guinea)
βͺ Died :
Poisoned and suffocated on 7 July 1945 in a Japanese concentration camp at Rakunai, East New Britain (part of modern Papua New Guinea)
Blessed Peter To Rot was born in 1912 at Rakunai, a village on the Melanesian island of New Britain, today part of Papua New Guinea. His parents belonged to the regionβs first generation of Catholics. He was a pious boy and the parish priest thought that he should study for the priesthood, but his father, the village chief, felt that the tradition of Catholicism in the region was too short and none of the people were yet ready for the priesthood, so Peter became a catechist. Most of the evangelization in the area was carried out by catechists, like Peter. He married Paula LaVarpit, from a nearby village on November 11, 1936 and they had three children.
When the local priest was forced to leave for a concentration camp, he said to Peter, βI am leaving my work in your hands. Do not let them forget about God.β Peter did just that. He and the other catechists helped to keep the Catholic faith alive. Peter learned some Japanese and was able to get along well with the Japanese Naval Authorities. But then the Military Police took over. They thought the Christians were praying for a Japanese defeat. Christian worship was forbidden, and a decree was issued that the people should go back to the ancient practice of a man having more than one wife. Peter publicly protested this, and harshly corrected anyone who considered it.
He organized prayer services, gave religious instruction, baptized children, preserved the consecrated Hosts and administered them to the sick and dying, and gave help to the poor. The Japanese had destroyed the church when they arrived, so Peter built a new one out of the branches of trees.
Peter was arrested when the Japanese Military Police found out he was organizing prayer groups and witnessing marriages. His family came to the prison every day to bring him food. Methodist and Catholic chiefs of different tribes tried to have Peter released, but could not. Peter told them, βDonβt worry. Iβm a catechist. If I die, I die for the faith.β
After a quiet start, repression grew violent. The Japanese banned all Christian worship, public and private, and decided to reintroduce polygamy among the people. Peter was arrested in April or May 1945 and savagely βquestionedβ by officials. He was sentenced to two months in prison. A month before the Japanese surrendered to Allied forces in the Pacific, a Japanese doctor came and injected Peter with poison, stuffed his ears and nose with cotton wool, and held him down and suffocated him until he died.
An immense crowd attended Peterβs burial, at which no religious rite was permitted. He has been increasingly revered as a martyr ever since that day.
βI am here because of those who broke their marriage vows and because of those who do not want the growth of Godβs kingdom.β ~ Bl Peter To Rot
Related Post
SAINT OF THE DAY
- βͺ Saint of the Day : January
- βͺ Saint of the Day : June
- βͺ Saint Simon Marie Antoine Just Ranfer De Bretenieres - Priest
- βͺ Saint Sylvester of Assisi
- βͺ Saint Conon the Gardener
- βͺ Saint John of the Cross
- βͺ Saint Peter of Pappacarbone - Bishop of Policastro
- βͺ Saint Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia - Martyrs
- βͺ Saint Casimir of Poland - Confessor
- βͺ Saint Luke Casali - Monk & Priest
- βͺ Saint Angela of the Cross Guerrero y GonzΓ‘lez - Virgin and Foundress
- βͺ Saint Chad of Mercia
- βͺ Saint Katharine Drexel - Foundress
- βͺ Saint Agnes of Bohemia - Princess, Philanthropist and Abbess
- βͺ Blessed Giovanna Maria Bonomo - Nun, Mystic
- βͺ Pope Saint Felix III
- βͺ Saint Swidberth of Kaiserwerdt - Monk
- βͺ Saint Leolucas of Corleone - Abbot
- βͺ Saint Rudesind - Bishop and Abbot
- βͺ Saint Albinus of Angers - Bishop
- βͺ Blessed Christopher of Milan
- St. Maria Faustina Kowalska
- βͺ St. Frumentius
- βͺ Holy Prophet Elias/Elijah
- Saint Aaron of Brittany
Saints in July
- βͺ Saint of the Day : July
- βͺ St. Frumentius
- βͺ Holy Prophet Elias/Elijah
- βͺ Saint Athanasius the Athonite
- βͺ Saint Giustino de Jacobis - Bishop and Missionary
- βͺ Saint Germanus of Auxerre - Bishop
- βͺ Saint Ignatius of Loyola - Confessor, Founder of the Society of Jesus
- βͺ Saint Godelieve
- βͺ Saint MarΓa Natividad Venegas de La Torre - Nun
- βͺ Saint Peter Chrysologus - Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church
- βͺ Saints Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix - Martyrs
- βͺ Saint Martha of Bethany - Virgin, Myrrhbearer, Wonder Worker of Southern Gaul
- βͺ Saints Nazarius and Celsus - Martyrs
- βͺ Saint Pedro Poveda Castroverde - Priest and Martyr, Founder of the Teresian Association
- βͺ Pope Saint Celestine I - Pope and Confessor
- βͺ Blessed Maria of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Nun; Mystic
- βͺ Blessed Giuseppina Maria de Micheli
- βͺ Saint Mary Bartholomea Capitanio
- βͺ Blessed Andrew the Catechist - The First Vietnamese Martyr
- βͺ Saint Joachim - Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- βͺ Saint Anne - Mother of the Virgin, Mystic, Maternal Heroine, Woman of Amram
- βͺ Saint Christopher
- βͺ Saint Cucufas - Martyr in Spain
- βͺ Saint James the Greater
- βͺ Blessed Maria Mercedes Prat - Religious & Martyr