Hikoi of Faith: Our Missionary Patron

On Tuesday I visited the village of Cuet, the home of St Peter Chanel, the patron saint of the Diocese of Hamilton and was I able to celebrate Mass for the intentions of the people, religious and priests in the Diocese of Hamilton at the Sanctuary of St Peter Chanel.

The altar where I celebrated Mass with reliquary behind.

Peter was born on the 12th of July 1803 at La Potière, a farm four kms from Cuet. He was the fifth of eight children.

La Potière... then and now

Peter wasn't a regular school attendee. At the age of 11 Father Trompier invited him to attend his school at the nearby village of Cras. He didn't find schooling easy and he wanted to give up but his teacher told him to pray in the Church. There he prayed in front of the statue of Our Lady of Perseverance. When he went back to school he said to his teacher "I'm staying." Perseverance was a quality Peter was going to need later in life.

The current church in Cras

Our Lady of Perseverance

Peter left for the seminary in 1819 and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Belley (now Belley-Ars) on 15th of July 1827. He celebrated his first Mass at the altar below on the 17th of July 1827.

In 1831, at the age of 28, Peter joined the new being established Society of Mary (Marists). Initially, instead of selecting him as a missionary, the Marists appointed him as the spiritual director at the seminary of Belley, where he stayed for five years. In 1836, the Marists, finally formally approved by Pope Gregory XVI, were asked to send missionaries to the territory of the southwest Pacific. Peter was professed a Marist on 24 September 1836, and was made the superior of a band of seven Marist missionaries that set out on 24 December from Le Havre. They were accompanied by Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier who was to become the first Bishop of New Zealand. Peter Chanel went to the island of Futuna, accompanied by a French lay brother Marie-Nizier Delorme. They arrived on 8 November 1837.

The group was initially well received by Futuna's king, Niuliki. Chanel struggled to learn the language but eventually mastered it. Despite little apparent success and severe want, he maintained endless patience and courage. It was a difficult mission, requiring him to cope with isolation and acclimate to different foods and customs, but it eventually began to bear some fruit. A few natives had been baptized while a few more were being instructed. King Niuliki believed Christianity would undermine his authority as high priest and king. When his son, Meitala, sought to be baptised, the king sent a favored warrior, his son-in-law, Musumusu, to "do whatever was necessary" to resolve the problem. Musumusu initially went to Meitala and the two fought. Musumusu, injured in the fracas, went to Chanel feigning need of medical attention. While Chanel tended him, a group of others ransacked his house. Musumusu took an axe and clubbed Chanel to death. Chanel died on 28 April 1841.