St Peter of Verona (Peter Martyr): Life and Credo

St Peter of Verona (1205-1252), known in the liturgy simply as St Peter Martyr, was a Dominican friar and preacher of northern Italy, the son of heretics, who spent his life defending the Catholic faith and was murdered for it on the road from Como to Milan. As he died he professed the Creed he had learned as a child, and a very old tradition says that he traced its first words, Credo in Deum, on the ground in his own blood. Pope Innocent IV canonized him in the year after his death. In the calendar of 1962 his feast falls on 29 April; here is his story according to Butler and the Roman Breviary, what is history and what is legend, and the prayers of his Mass in Latin and English.

The life of St Peter of Verona

Peter was born at Verona in 1205, of parents who belonged to the sect of the Cathari, whom the Breviary calls Manichees. Among their tenets, Butler explains, was the denial that the material world had been created by God.

The story of his childhood is the key to his life. He was sent, in spite of his family's sect, to a Catholic school. One day an uncle, himself a heretic, asked the boy what he was learning there; he was seven years old, according to the lessons read in the Breviary before 1960. Peter answered that he had learned the Creed, and when the uncle questioned him, he stoutly maintained, Butler says, the article "Creator of heaven and earth", the very article the Cathari denied. No coaxing of his father or his uncle, the Breviary adds, could ever move him from the faith. The Apostles' Creed that the boy defended is the one we give in full, in Latin and English, on our page on the Apostles' Creed.

As a young man he went to the University of Bologna, where he found himself among licentious companions and soon resolved to leave the world. He received the habit of the Order of Preachers, Butler says, from St Dominic himself. The Breviary praises his purity above all: he kept body and soul so clean that he was never conscious of having stained himself with a mortal sin. He excelled, the Breviary says, by a wonderful zeal for penance and contemplation, and, Butler adds, was always studying, reading, praying, serving the sick, or sweeping the house.

A trial before the crucifix

Butler tells of a heavy trial. Peter was falsely accused of having received strangers, even women, into his cell; he was forbidden to teach and banished to a remote priory. Kneeling before the crucifix, he cried out: "Lord, thou knowest that I am not guilty. Why dost thou permit me to be falsely accused?" And the answer came: "And I, Peter, what did I do to deserve my passion and death?" Rebuked and consoled at once by the image of the crucifix, he took courage; soon afterwards his innocence was made clear, and his preaching was more fruitful than ever.

Preacher and inquisitor

Peter preached throughout Lombardy and far beyond. Crowds so pressed upon him that he was sometimes almost crushed, some seeking his blessing, others bringing the sick, others wanting instruction; and to his fame as a preacher was added the reputation of a worker of wonders. The lessons read in the Breviary before 1960 say that a numberless multitude flocked to hear him, and many were converted to penance.

About 1234 Pope Gregory IX named him inquisitor for the territory of Milan, and his jurisdiction was later extended over most of northern Italy. The Inquisition was the Church's court for judging heresy, and Butler shows Peter in that office at Bologna, Cremona, Ravenna, Genoa, Venice and the March of Ancona, "preaching the faith, arguing with heretics, denouncing and reconciling them". He knew that he had made bitter enemies, and he prayed, the Breviary says, for the grace to die for the faith.

How did St Peter of Verona die?

On Palm Sunday 1252, preaching, he announced publicly that a plot had been laid against his life and a price set on his head. "Let them do their worst," he said, "I shall be more powerful dead than alive."

About a fortnight later, on 6 April 1252, as he was going from Como to Milan, two assassins waylaid him in a wood near Barlassina. One of them, Carino, struck him on the head and then attacked his companion, a friar named Dominic. Grievously wounded, Peter commended himself and his murderer to God, Butler says, in the words of St Stephen, the first martyr: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts vii. 58-59). The Breviary says that, already half dead, he pronounced the Creed, the same faith he had confessed as a child, with his last breath; and he was struck again and died. He was forty-six. Brother Dominic survived him only a few days.

His body was carried to Milan, and later laid in the Dominican church of Sant'Eustorgio, where a magnificent tomb was raised over it.

The Credo in his blood: tradition and history

Here we must distinguish, as Butler does. That Peter died professing the Creed is the testimony of the Breviary and of the early accounts. That he wrote "Credo in Deum" on the ground with a finger dipped in his own blood is, in Butler's words, "a very old tradition": "if we may believe a very old tradition, with a finger dipped in his own blood he was tracing on the ground the words Credo in Deum when his assailant despatched him with another blow". It is a tradition, and we present it as such; but it says something true. A man who, at seven, had defended "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth" before a heretic uncle, died with the same words on his lips.

This is why painters show him in the Dominican habit with a wound in his head. Butler mentions a famous painting by Fra Angelico showing him with his wounded head and his finger on his lips.

The conversion of his murderer

The most beautiful sequel to the story is the fate of the assassin. Carino fled to Forlì, where, Butler says, repentance overtook him: he abjured his heresy, became a Dominican lay brother, and died so holy a death that his memory came to be venerated. The martyr's prayer for his murderer was heard.

Miracles and legends of St Peter Martyr

The bull of canonization, Butler notes, was printed among the documents of the Acta Sanctorum, with a life by Fr Thomas Agni of Lentino, a contemporary. The lessons read in the Breviary before 1960 say that Innocent IV canonized him because God had made him illustrious by many miracles. The Golden Legend of the thirteenth century, which must be read as legend, adds some well-known stories:

• The cloud. At Milan, in the heat, a heretic bishop (an "Arian", the Legend calls him) mocked him: if he were so holy, why did he let the people faint under the sun? Peter prayed, made the sign of the cross, and a cloud spread over the assembly "like a pavilion" for as long as the sermon lasted.
• Healings. A man lame for five years, brought to him in a barrow, rose up healed when Peter blessed him; a dumb young man recovered his speech.
• After his death. Candles offered at his altar that a greedy priest tried to put out kept lighting themselves again; and the sick who invoked him far from his tomb were healed.

The same Legend draws a parallel: Christ suffered for the truth He preached, Peter for the truth he defended; Christ died at Paschaltide, and so did Peter; Christ commended His spirit into the Father's hands, and Peter did the same.

The prayer of St Peter of Verona (Missal of 1962)

In the Missal of 1962 his Mass is printed in full among the feasts of April, with the chants of Paschaltide: the Introit Protexisti me, Deus, a conventu malignantium, from the Psalm "Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant" (Psalm lxiii. 3), the Epistle of St Paul to Timothy which ends "And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Timothy ii. 8-10; iii. 10-12), and the Gospel "I am the true vine: and my Father is the husbandman" (St John xv. 1-7). The Collect, Secret and Postcommunion are proper to him, and all three turn on the faith.

Collect, 29 April

Præsta, quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut beáti Petri Mártyris tui fidem cóngrua devotióne sectémur; qui, pro ejúsdem fídei dilatatióne, martýrii palmam méruit obtinére. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we may follow with fitting devotion the faith of blessed Peter, Thy Martyr, who for the spreading of that same faith was found worthy to win the palm of martyrdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Secret

Preces, quas tibi, Dómine, offérimus, intercedénte beáto Petro Mártyre tuo, cleménter inténde: et propugnatóres fídei sub tua protectióne custódi. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Look mercifully, O Lord, upon the prayers which we offer Thee through the intercession of blessed Peter, Thy Martyr, and keep under Thy protection the defenders of the faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Postcommunion

Fidéles tuos, Dómine, custódiant sacraménta, quæ súmpsimus: et, intercedénte beáto Petro Mártyre tuo, contra omnes advérsos tueántur incúrsus. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

May the sacraments we have received, O Lord, guard Thy faithful, and, through the intercession of blessed Peter, Thy Martyr, protect them against every hostile assault. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The Collect is the surest prayer to St Peter of Verona: not a request for this or that favour, but for the grace to follow his faith. The Creed itself, said slowly as he said it, is the prayer that best honours him; and the Secret gives the intention of the day, the protection of all who defend the faith.

When is the feast day of St Peter of Verona?

He was killed on 6 April, but in the calendar of 1962 his feast, St Peter Martyr, falls on 29 April. It is a feast of the third class, in red vestments, the colour of martyrs, without the Creed in the Mass; at Matins in the Breviary it has a single nocturn, with his life read in one contracted lesson. The day always falls in Paschaltide: in the years when it is a Sunday, or falls within the octave of Easter, the saint gives way to the higher day. You will find it in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962, and St Peter of Verona takes his place among the saints of the year in our guide to the Catholic saints, listed by feast day.

In 1969 his feast was removed from the general calendar of the Church and left to particular calendars: the Calendarium Romanum of that year judged that he was not a saint of truly universal importance.

What is St Peter of Verona the patron saint of?

The liturgy itself points to the intention for which the Church invokes him: in the Secret of his Mass the Church asks God, through his intercession, to keep "the defenders of the faith" under His protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was St Peter of Verona?

A Dominican friar and preacher (1205-1252), born at Verona of heretical parents, who became inquisitor in northern Italy and was murdered by heretics near Milan in 1252. He is honoured as St Peter Martyr.

Why is he called Peter Martyr?

Because he was killed for the faith he preached: the Collect of his feast says that he won the palm of martyrdom "for the spreading of that same faith", and the Roman calendar names his feast simply "St Peter, Martyr".

Did St Peter of Verona really write "Credo" in his blood?

That he died professing the Creed is attested; that he wrote Credo in Deum on the ground in his blood is, as Butler puts it, "a very old tradition".

Who killed St Peter of Verona?

An assassin named Carino, one of the heretics who had plotted his death. Carino later repented, became a Dominican lay brother and died in the odour of sanctity.

How quickly was he canonized?

Pope Innocent IV canonized him in 1253, the year after his death.

Where is St Peter of Verona buried?

In the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan, under a magnificent tomb.

What miracles are attributed to him?

The older lessons of the Breviary say that God made him illustrious by many miracles; the Golden Legend tells of a cloud that shaded his hearers at his prayer and of healings of the lame and the dumb.

The Iter Fidei app carries the Roman Missal of 1962 with the Mass of St Peter Martyr, the Breviary and the traditional calendar, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, 29 April (St Peter of Verona, Martyr). Roman Breviary, 29 April, lesson of St Peter Martyr (1960) and the lessons read before 1960. Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 29 April. Calendarium Romanum (1969), changes to the calendar, 29 April. James of Voragine, The Golden Legend (Life of S. Peter of Milan). Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, Psalm lxiii. 3; Acts vii. 58-59; II Timothy iii. 12; St John xv. 1.