Blessed Peter of Mogliano

Blessed Peter of Mogliano

(Beato Pietro da Mogliano)

Confessor, First Order

Peter was the son of a prominent family at Mogliano in the March of Ancona. He had studied law at the University of Perugia, and had already received his degree of Doctor of Laws, when he heard a sermon by the Franciscan provincial of the March of Ancona. The sermon made such an impression on him that he went to the preacher and asked for the habit of the order.

From the very first he possessed a holy zeal for religious perfection and became a shining light in all the religious virtues. He devoted himself to the study of theology with such ardor that his learning was admired as much as his sanctity. St James of the March considered him the right sort of man for the missions. He chose him as his companion, and Peter copied his holy master so closely that after the latter’s death he was chosen as his successor in directing missions.

It is almost incredible with what zeal and charity Peter labored for the conversion of sinners. Like a two-edged sword his words pieced the hearts of his listeners, and like a soothing balsam they healed the wounds after he had removed the poison of sin in the confessional. Tirelessly he labored in the confessional by day and by night.

He possessed the special gift of putting an end to enmities. Whole towns that were armed against each other he managed to reconcile. Like a true ambassador of the God of Peace, he brought peace and firmly established harmony wherever he went. When God confirmed his words by miracles, they produced even greater results.

Many persons chose him as their guide on the road to perfection. Among these were the duke of Camerion and his daughter Baptista Varani, whom we honor among the blessed of the Franciscan Order. Once when visiting Camerino with several of the brethren, Peter felt that he was near death. Although he had been seized with a violent fever as soon as he got to the convent, he dragged himself to the church to receive Holy Viaticum. The duke soon arrived and presented his two sons to the sick man. Peter admonished them earnestly always to live in fraternal unity, and then gave them his blessing.

But the holy missionary, who had so zealously fought the infernal enemy, had yet to suffer his attacks on his deathbed. The evil one represented to him that all he had preached had been a lie. But Blessed Peter of Mogliano asked one of the brethren to read the story of the Passion of Our Lord according to St Matthew. Immediately the devil left him.

While the bells of the convent church were ringing out the Te Deum during the midnight office, Blessed Peter of Mogliano slept away peacefully in the Lord. It was on the feast of St James, July 25, 1490. Pope Clement XIV approved his veneration.

*from The Franciscan Book of Saints, Fr. Habig, OFM