Home / The saints / St. Peter Canisius
Germany, the 1550s
Peter Canisius was a Dutch Jesuit sent to the German lands in the middle of the Reformation.1
He preached, taught and founded colleges.1
His catechisms were printed again and again and taught the faith to generations.
Patron of Germany1
01St. Peter Canisius
Patience
He refused to be harsh with Protestants, saying gentleness won more hearts.1
Live it this week
Disagree gently
Canisius said harshness drove people away. This week, in any disagreement about faith or politics, keep your voice and words gentle the whole time.
Notes
How we know · 1 source for this page
- Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Peter Canisius”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.
Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.