Novena to St. Peter Martyr

April 29th.

1. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who kept yourself firmly to the true faith, notwithstanding all the efforts of your relatives to induce you to embrace heresy: obtain for us the grace of perseverance in the belief of every article of the Catholic faith, and of conforming all our thoughts, words, and works to its teaching during the remainder of our lives. Gloria.

2. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who preserved yourself always pure in mind, in heart, and in body, amidst the scandals of the most dissolute companions: obtain for us all the grace never to deviate from the path of virtue, notwithstanding the evil example of a corrupt and wicked world. Gloria.

3. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who made no other use of all your time, talents, and vast learning but to advance in the science of the Saints: obtain for us all the grace to grow in the knowledge of our sins, that we may weep over them,—of our duties, that we may fulfil them,—and of the justice and goodness of God, that we may fear and love Him for ever. Gloria.

4. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who preferred the poverty and retirement of the cloister to all the honours and riches of the world, and who became a model of religious perfection from the very commencement of your noviciate: obtain for us all the grace to excel in the practice of virtue, that we may repair by our fervour the tepidity and inconstancy of our past lives. Gloria.

5. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, whose happiness consisted in prayers, vigils, fasts, and all kinds of austerity and penance: obtain for us all the grace so to mortify our will and all our feelings, that our flesh may never triumph over our spirit, nor prevail against us to our ruin. Gloria.

6. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who when insulted by the most atrocious calumnies, never defended yourself or complained, but endured, in tranquillity, the suspension of your apostolic ministry, and an imprisonment of several months, determined to remain in this state of humiliation until death, had not God Himself miraculously manifested your innocence: obtain for us all the grace to sustain with patience and resignation, all the sicknesses and sufferings of the body, as well as all the calumnies and unjust persecutions of men; consoling ourselves with the thought, that the greater our humiliation in this life, the greater will be our glory in the next. Gloria.

7. O Glorious Martyr, St. Peter, who by the most eloquent preaching, the most laborious zeal, by the most stupendous miracles, and, finally, by a death undergone in the defence of Catholic truths, confounded and humbled the enemies of the Catholic Religion, and purified Italy from the poison of heresy: obtain for us all the grace to labour, at all times, with zeal in the cause of God, and to confound, by the holiness of our lives, the enemies of our faith; that we may, after having faithfully imitated your virtues on earth, attain to a share of your glory in Heaven. Gloria.