St. Peter Chanel

St. Peter Chanel was born in 1803 to a peasant family at Cuet in eastern France and died a martyr on 28 April 1841 on the island of Futuna in the South Pacific. Ordained a priest and briefly a zealous parish curate who revived a neglected parish, he longed for the foreign missions, and joining the newly founded Society of Mary, the Marists, he was sent with a small band to carry the Gospel to the peoples of Oceania.

Stationed on the remote island of Futuna, he labored patiently to learn the language and win the trust of the islanders, gentle and untiring amid great hardship and slow results, until his very success in gaining converts — including the son of the local chief — provoked the ruler's anger. Fearing the loss of his power and of the old religion, the chief sent warriors who clubbed the missionary to death. His blood proved fruitful, for within a few years the whole island embraced the faith. The first martyr of Oceania, canonized in 1954 and honored as its patron, he is remembered on 28 April.