The Gangster Saint

April 27th is the Feast day of St. Peter Armengol. This fascinating saint, whose life story is the stuff Hollywood is made of, went from gangster and sinner to a man of deep, unwavering faith with a fierce devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Born into wealthy, Spanish nobility, he gave himself over to a life of vice. Does St. Augustine come to mind? As a gang leader he terrorized, robbed and killed travellers in the Pyrenees region, until the day he came face-to-face in combat with his own father. Filled with shame, the repentant youth retired to a monastery in Barcelona and gave his life to God.

His greatest desire was to go to Africa and become a captive for the ransom of Christians. After ransoming 119 captives without incident, he learned of 18 innocent children held captive by the Moors. Unable to allow such an atrocity, Friar Peter offered himself as hostage. After being starved and tortured, the Moors accused him of blaspheming Mohammed and being a spy sent by the Christian kings, thus raising their ire. He was condemned to be hanged. The unjust execution was carried out and St. Peter’s body was left hanging from the gallows for six days! His unselfish act of love for the children touched the heart of Our Blessed Mother and she interceded for him to her Son. Her request was granted, and Friar Peter was saved.

When he returned to Barcelona, the man of God told his superior, “The Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our own mother, asked her Most Holy Son to conserve my life; having obtained this favour, this same sovereign Queen sustained me with her most holy hands, so that the weight of my body would not hang upon the rope by which I was suspended.”

Recalling the miracle of his hanging, he frequently told the religious of the monastery of this marvel: “Believe me, my dear brothers, that I do not believe myself to have lived except for those few but most happy days when, hanging from the gallows, I was held to be dead.”

For the rest of his life, Friar Armengol had a twisted neck and a pale completion, authentic signs of what had taken place. He retired to the monastery of Our Lady de los Prados, where he practiced heroic virtue and spent his days in familiar conversation with the Queen of Angels, whom he loved dearly.

In our times of profound moral crisis, let us ask Saint Armengol to obtain for us before the throne of God, graces of unbending fidelity, unwavering hope and heroic confidence in the powerful intercession of Our Lady. (retold from the website below)

visit The American Society For The Defense Of Tradition, Family & Property for the complete story of this remarkable saint, Peter Armengol.

A Miracle of Our Blessed Mother & Her Rosary

In October, Catholics give special attention to a special devotion, the Rosary. During this month we observe the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7th.

This was written by Fr. Floyd Rotunno, Pastor of The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Mahwah, NJ.

"Is She Here?" Even now as I re-tell this story, I get chills. It happened 27 years ago. Though I've repeated this to others over the years, I've never actually put it into writing until now. I received a phone call from a friend that her husband was in the hospital and asked me to come and see him. It didn't sound urgent, but some voice inside me told me to stop what I was doing and leave immediately. When I arrived at his room, I met his wife and son in the hallway, with tears in their eyes. She accompanied me into his room, and I realized how critical he was. I knew he was away from the Sacraments for a very long time, so I anointed him and gave him the final absolution of Penance. When he saw me he reached for my hand. It took every ounce of energy on his part to whisper, "Is she here?" I assured him that his wife was right there in the room with us. He said, "No, no...is she here?" I asked, "Who?" He said, "Her" and then continued, "pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. " It was said with his last breath of life.

I didn't understand at the time the significance of those words, other than they were the last part of the "Hail Mary". It wasn't until the Wake Service that I understood the sacredness of that moment at the hospital. You see, I met his parents for the first time. They lived in Florida. They were not close to his present wife and child, since this was his third marriage. After the appropriate prayers were said, his father pulled me aside to tell me that this man was their only child. When he was a little boy, they would recite the rosary together every night at home during the months of October and May. When their son's life started to unravel, and he turned his back on his family and his Faith, they began to say the rosary daily for him, and specifically for one special favor from our Blessed Mother, namely, that he would not die without a priest at his bedside. His dad said to me, "Father, you just didn't happen to be there by chance. You were there because Our Blessed Mother heard our daily prayer for our son. My wife and I were devastated when our only child walked away from his Faith. We promised our Blessed Mother that we would recite the rosary daily and asked for this miracle. She used you to be there in the place of her Son to give him the last rites of the Church."

Have you said the Rosary today?