Vol. XVIII x No. 4
APRIL-MAY 2006
VOCATION
MISSIONARY MODELS
Express here your views!
CALENDAR FOR THE RECOLLECTIONS AND SEARCH –IN WORKSHOPS 2006-2007
In Manila
May 2-9: Making decisions (Pre-postulancy retreat)
August 6: Human vocation
September 3: Christian vocations
October 20-22: Messengers of life
December 27-29: Mission
2007
January 7: St. Daniel Comboni
IN THE PROVINCES
July 16: Tacloban (Leyte)
September 23: Baguio
October 8: Naga (Bicol)
November 12: Iloilo-Bacolod
November 19: Bohol
2007
February 2-4: Cagayan de Oro
February 9-11: DavaoFebruary 24-25: Cebu
Write to
Fr. Vincent and Fr. Marnie
Vocation team
Comboni Missionaries 282Roosevelt Ave
1105 Quezon City M.M
Philippines
Tel. 414-3164/372-5859
or E-mail:
to WORLD MISSION
St. Peter Chanel
The man with a kind heart
By Marnecio Coralde Cuarteros
Comboni Missionary
The people of Futuna Island called him “the man with a kind heart.” But Peter Chanel, who became a saint and the patron of Oceania, was also a humble, simple and joyful priest, a missionary, a peacemaker. And, in troubled times, he can be an inspiration to all of us.
Peter Chanel, a Marist missionary priest, was born on July 12, 1803 in Cuet (Ain) in South-Western France, then an area still troubled by the political instability that followed the Revolution. The fifth of eight children in a farming family, he was a hardworking boy, always ready to help. The work, though, affected his schooling.
Chanel was also attentive to his religious duties and, in his early teens, his parish priest helped him with special lessons in the presbytery. At the age of 16, he began his secondary education at the minor seminary. With his dream to serve the Lord at all cost, he was diligent with his studies. No wonder, he was ordained as a priest at the age of 24.
There was nothing outstanding about Peter that would set him apart from the more than 20 ordained with him, except for his joyful disposition in life and his fervent devotion to Mary, Mother of Jesus. He had this motto for his priesthood: “To love Mary and bring others to love her.” For him, the way to find Jesus was through Mary.
On an island at last
His first year of priesthood inspired his dream to go for a foreign mission. But he landed instead in a medium-sized town as an assistant. His cheerfulness with the people whom he administered to gave him the right motivations to love and accept them as they were. Then, he was assigned to a small country parish, that had been neglected since the Revolution, as its parish priest. Being humble, having a simple way of dealing with others and being so devoted to prayer, he was able to turn his parish into an active community.
His desire to serve in foreign missions never left him. In 1831, at the age of 28, with his bishop’s blessing and approval, he joined a small group of diocesan priests that started the Society of Mary. In 1836, the Marists accepted the responsibility for new missions in the South-West Pacific. With Peter Chanel, there were two priests, three brothers and the Pro-vicar, and Bishop Pompallier.
While still 1,500 miles from his eventual headquarters in New Zealand, the Bishop left Pierre Bataillon and one brother at Wallis Island, and Peter Chanel and Brother Nizier in the neighboring Futuna Island in the New Hebrides and promised to return in six months. He came back only after five years.
War between rival tribes and the practice of cannibalism had reduced its population to a few thousands when Chanel landed at Futuna. The religion he found there was a kind of worship of terror. Chanel worked constantly and faithfully to reach out to the people.
It is well for me
For three-and-a-half years at Futuna, Chanel and his companion met difficulties with regard to the native language, encountered sickness, malnutrition and loneliness. Yet, with his perseverance and patience, he overcame the adversities and made adjustments that allowed him to live with fishermen, whalers, traders and warring natives.
Chanel kept on despite little success and a severe lack of everything. Thanks to his gentle spirit and endless patience and courage, a few natives had been baptized and a few more were instructed. Never giving up, he religiously attended to the sick and baptized the dying. Indeed, he deserved to be called “the man with a kind heart” by all.
At first, Niuliki, the island ruler, showed an amicable disposition towards the missionary and even declared him inviolable. But when he saw that his subjects were being taken away from their idols into the white man’s religion, he issued an edict against him so that his people will avert Chanel.
The eventual conversion of the king’s son proved to be Peter’s death warrant. The king kept control of his people largely through the worship of the spirits. His son’s becoming a Christian weakened the king’s power. So Chanel had to be stopped.
On April 28, 1841, at day break, a small group of tribal leaders, with the king’s approval, attacked him in his hut. One shattered his arm, wounded his left temple with a war club; another struck him to the ground with a bayonet. His reaction was resignation and kind words: “Malie fuai” (“It is well for me.”). Enraged, Musumusu, Niuliki’s prime minister, split open his skull. After that, the remains of the missionary were hurriedly buried.
The work of a peacemaker
Within two years after his death, the whole island became Catholic, and has remained so. Peter Chanel is the first martyr of Oceania and became its patron. Beatified in 1889, he was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954. He is well remembered as a peacemaker, as a witness of God’s love towards all peoples, regardless of race, culture and traditions.
His love for Mary, who accepted entirely the plan of God, can be an avenue for seeking guidance and inspiration in following Christ. With the motto of St. Peter Chanel, “to love Mary and bring others to love her,” we may be able to discover and accept God’s plan for our lives.
Her son, Jesus, was a man of peace. He spoke kindly and acted with love. He preached reconciliation and healed troubled people. Like Him and like St. Peter Chanel, we also have a special mission: to turn ourselves into peacemakers. <WM
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