Peter of Jesus Maldonado
| Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Priest and Martyr of the Eucharist | |
| Born |
July 22, 1977 Chihuahua City, Mexico |
| Died | Chihuahua City, Mexico |
| Beatified | November 22, 1992 by St. John Paul II |
| Canonized | May 21, 2000 by St. John Paul II |
| Attributes | priestly vestments, stole, palm, monstrance, Eucharist, Nocturnal Adoration pendant, Knight of Columbus pendant |
| Patronage | Clergy of the Archdiocese of Chihuahua, Clergy of the Diocese of El Paso, Knights of Columbus, Mexican Nocturnal Adoration |
Saint Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero (June 15, 1892 – February 11, 1937) was a Mexican diocesan priest who became the first canonized saint and martyr from Chihuahua City, Mexico.
Pedro de Jesús Maldonado was born in a neighborhood of Chihuahua City known as San Nicolás and was one of seven children of Apolinar Maldonado and Micaela Lucero. When he was 17 years old, he entered the diocesan seminary, where he was known for his piety; once, after completing the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, he told the rector of the seminary "I have thought of always having my heart in heaven and in the Tabernacle."
In 1913 and 1914, many seminarians fled to El Paso, Texas, because of religious persecution in Mexico, but Maldonado remained in Chihuahua and studied music. Later, he continued his religious studies and was ordained as a priest on January 25, 1918. His ordination took place in the Cathedral of St. Patrick, in the Diocese of El Paso, because the Bishop of Chihuahua was sick in Mexico City.
Although Maldonado celebrated his first masses in El Paso, his first Solemn Mass was in the Church of the Holy Family in Chihuahua on February 11, 1918 (the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes).
As a priest in the parish of Santa Isabel, Maldonado worked with the Tarahumara Natives and sought to reduce the amount of alcohol they consumed. He helped the poor with money and clothing, and raised and educated a poor orphan. Maldonado took a special interest in the religious education of both children and adults, explaining Catholic doctrine by using photographs. At harvest time, farmers would ask him to bless fields invaded by locusts, and there are accounts that claim his prayers expelled the locusts more than once.
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