Bl. Peter Gonzales

Feastday: April 14
Patron: of sailors
Birth: 1190
Death: 1246

Peter Gonzales, also known as St. Elmo or St. Telmo, was born to a Castilian family of nobility. He was educated by his uncle, the Bishop of Astorga, named canon of the local cathedral, famous for his penances and mortifications, joined the Dominican Order, preached and made chaplain of the court of King St. Ferdinand III. He converted and influenced the soldiers of his country, evangelized, and died on Easter Sunday. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741. Peter evangelized throughout his country and all along the coast. He had a special fondness for sailors. He used to visit them aboard their ships, preaching the Gospel and praying for their needs. His feast day is April 14th.

Spanish Dominican friar and priest

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See also: Saint Elmo (disambiguation), San Telmo (disambiguation), and Pedro Gonzalez (disambiguation)

Peter González (1190 - 1246), sometimes referred to as Pedro González Telmo, Saint Telmo, or Saint Elmo, was a Castilian Dominican friar and priest, born in 1190 in Frómista, Palencia, Kingdom of Castile and Leon.

Life

González was educated by his uncle, the Bishop of Astorga, who gave him a canonry when he was very young. On one occasion, he was riding triumphantly into the city, his horse stumbled, dumping him into the mud to the amusement of onlookers. Humbled, the canon reevaluated his vocation and later resigned his position to enter the Dominican Order. González became a renowned preacher; crowds gathered to hear him and numberless conversions were the result of his efforts.

He spent much of his time as a court preacher. After King Saint Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon captured Córdoba, González was successful in restraining the soldiers from pillaging the city.

After retiring from the court, González devoted the remainder of his life to preaching in northwest Spain, and developed a special mission to Spanish and Portuguese seamen. He died on April 15, 1246, at Tui and is buried in the local cathedral.

Veneration

Although his cultus was confirmed in 1741 by Pope Benedict XIV, and despite his common epithet of "saint," González was never formally canonized. Peter González was beatified in 1254 by Pope Innocent IV.

The diminutive "Elmo" (or "Telmo") belongs properly to the martyr-bishop Erasmus of Formia (died c. 303), one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, of whose name "Elmo" is a contraction. However, as Erasmus is the patron saint of sailors generally, and Peter González of Spanish and Portuguese sailors specifically, they have both been popularly invoked as "Saint Elmo." he is also the patron of St. Peter Themo parish in Aparri, Cagayan