|
Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur (or Betancourt) y Gonzáles, O.F.B. ((スペイン語:Pedro de San José de Betancur y Gonzáles), March 21, 1626 (Tenerife) – April 25, 1667 (Antigua Guatemala), called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt or more simply Hermano Pedro, Santo Hermano Pedro, or San Pedro de Vilaflor, was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala. Known as the "St. Francis of Assisi of the Americas", he is the first saint native to the Canary Islands, is also considered the first saint of Guatemala and Central America. == Biography == Betancourt was born at Villaflora on the Island of Tenerife in 1626, one of the five children of Amador Betancourt, a descendant of Jean de Béthencourt, the French knight and explorer who conquered the Canary Islands for King Henry III of Castile (1402-1405), and of Ana Gonzáles Betancurt.〔(Besse, Jean. "Bethlehemites." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 11 Sept. 2014 )〕 As a small child, he worked as a shepherd, caring for his family's small flock, their only source of income, but also spending some time praying in small cave〔("Pedro Betancur", ''Saints Resource'', RCL Benziger )〕 in the arid region near the present-day town of El Médano (municipality of Granadilla de Abona). When the father's estate was seized by a moneylender in 1638 for failure to pay the family's debt, Peter was indentured to his service in recompense for the monies still due him. During this period, his eldest brother, Mateo, migrated to Spain's colonies in the New World, possibly settling in Ecuador. In 1649, at age 23, Betancourt was freed from his period of servitude and decided to follow his brother's example. He set sail for Guatemala,〔 the capital of New Spain, in hopes of connecting with a relative engaged in government service there. By the time he had reached Havana, Cuba, he was out of money. He then spent a year serving a priest there who was also from Tenerife. He had to pay for his passage from that point by working on a ship which docked at Honduras from where he walked to Guatemala City.〔("St Peter de Betancurt", Vatican )〕 When he arrived in Guatemala City, he was so destitute that he joined the bread line which the Franciscan friars had established to feed the poor. Eventually he found his uncle who then found him a job in a local textile factory. In 1653 Betancourt enrolled in the Jesuit College of San Borgia to study for priesthood. When after three years he could not master the material, he withdrew from the school〔 and abandoned this idea. After holding the position of sacristan for a while in a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, he rented a house in a suburb of the city called Calvary, and there taught reading and catechism to poor children.〔 Unable to receive holy orders, Betancourt became a Franciscan tertiary at the Franciscan friary of Costa Rica in Antigua Guatemala, and adopted the religious name of Peter of Saint Joseph. He visited hospitals, jails, the unemployed and worked with the young. In 1658 Peter was given a hut which he converted into a hospital for the poor who had been discharged from the city hospital but still needed to convalesce.〔 His zeal elicited benefactions from those around him and the bishop and governor supplied him with all the conveniences he required.〔 Three years later several individuals provided for the purchase of the houses surrounding the one Peter then occupied and on their site was erected a hospital in which he could better work. He himself worked with the masons. The hospital was thoroughly equipped and stocked. The institution, a hospital for the convalescent poor, was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Bethlehem. Soon after there was a shelter for the homeless, a school for the poor,〔(Foley OFM, Leonard. "St. Pedro de San José Betancur", ''Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons and Feast'', (revised by Pat McCloskey OFM), Franciscan Media )〕 an oratory, and an inn for priests. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|