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26-608: He was born at Alcántara , Province of Cáceres , Extremadura , Spain . His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of Alcántara, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. He decided to join the Franciscans at the age of 16 shortly after he was sent to university in Salamanca by his stepfather. Returning home, he became a Franciscan friar of the Stricter Observance in the friary at Manxaretes, Extremadura , in 1515. At

52-458: A legendary tale of Simon Magus ' death. Simon is performing magic in the Roman Forum , and in order to prove himself to be a god , he flies up into the air. The apostle Peter prays to God to stop his flying, and he stops mid-air and falls, breaking his legs, whereupon the crowd, previously non-hostile, stones him to death. The church of Santa Francesca Romana claims to have been built on

78-575: A religious Province under the title of St Joseph. Not discouraged by the opposition and ill-success his efforts at reform had met with in St Gabriel Province, Peter drew up the constitutions of the new province with even greater severity. The reform spread rapidly into other provinces of Spain and Portugal. In 1562 the Province of St Joseph was put under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of

104-570: Is named after him. Alc%C3%A1ntara Alcántara ( Spanish: [alˈkan.ta.ɾa] ) is a municipality in the province of Cáceres , Extremadura , Spain, on the Tagus , near Portugal . The toponym is from the Arabic word al-Qanṭarah (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge". Archaeological findings have attested human presence in the area from the Bronze Age ; the first historical inhabitants were

130-590: Is now its official date. Some Traditionalist Catholics continue to observe versions of the General Roman Calendar of the 1670-1969 period, of which the 1960 version is incorporated into the 1962 Roman Missal that Pope Benedict XVI permitted to be used by all Latin Church priests for Masses without the people and, under the conditions indicated in article 5 of his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum , in Masses with

156-607: The Lusitanians , followed by the Celts , who came from an area between central Iberia and the Pyrenees . To this period, and to the following Roman domination, belong the remains of several castra (military camps), villas and the bridge which gives its name to the city. Roman rule lasted from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century, when they were replaced by the Visigoths . In the 8th century,

182-567: The Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula and called it Al-Andalus , ending four centuries of Visigothic presence in what is now Spain , France , Portugal and Gibraltar . In the 12th century, the Muslim geographer al-Idrisi described the bridge as one of the wonders of the world. Alcántara was a frontier city in the 12th and 13th centuries, devoted to military activities and animal husbandry. After

208-784: The Prophet Muhammed , the twelfth century Persian dervish, Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar and the ninth century Muslim saint Abu Yazid al-Bestami . Levitation has also been cited outside of Islam and Christianity. In his book Autobiography of a Yogi , Paramahamsa Yogananda discusses Nagendranath Bhaduri, a saint said to levitate in India. The saint had mastered Astanga Yoga and several Yogic techniques including various pranayamas or breathing techniques as mentioned in Patanjali 's Yoga Sutra . Yogananda wrote that Nagendranath Bhaduri had performed bhastrika pranayama so strongly that he felt like he

234-643: The Cross..." He died while on his knees in prayer on October 18, 1562 in a monastery at Arenas (now Arenas de San Pedro , Province of Ávila , Old Castile ). It is also said that Peter slept very little and that he always slept sitting up. Because he was awake most of the time when his brother friars were sleeping, he is the patron saint of night watchmen. Peter of Alcantara was beatified in Rome by Pope Gregory XV on April 18, 1622, and canonized by Pope Clement IX on April 28, 1669. In 1670, Peter of Alcantara's feast day

260-579: The Observants, and two new custodies were formed: St. John Baptist in Valencia and St. Simon in Galicia (see Friars Minor). Francis Borgia once wrote to him: "Your remarkable success is a special comfort to me." In Teresa of Ávila , Peter perceived a soul chosen of God for a great work, and her success in the reform of Carmel (see Carmelites) was in great measure due to his counsel, encouragement and defense. It

286-523: The Province of Arrábida. Returning to Spain in 1553 he spent two more years in solitude; then he journeyed barefoot to Rome and obtained permission of Julius III to found some poor friaries in Spain under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Conventuals . Friaries were established at Pedrosa , Plasencia and elsewhere; in 1556 they were made a commissariat , with Peter as Commissary , and in 1561

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312-525: The age of twenty-two he was sent to found a new community of the Stricter Observance at Badajoz . He was ordained a priest in 1524, and the following year was appointed Guardian of the friary of St. Mary of the Angels at Robredillo, Old Castile . A few years later he began preaching with much success. He preferred to preach to the poor; his sermons , taken largely from the Prophets and Sapiential Books , breathe

338-541: The collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba , it belonged to several Islamic taifas (petty kingdoms). Ferdinand II of León liberated Alcántara in 1167 during his wars against Portugal , but the town was later recaptured by the Almohads . The Christians conquered it permanently in 1213 with Alfonso IX of León . In 1217 it was given to the military order of Calatrava . They, however, considered it too difficult to defend, and thus

364-569: The following year they were replaced by the Order of San Julian de Pereiro, a military order created in 1156 which had its headquarters on the Rio Cora and which later took its name from Alcántara, where it was established. The city maintained its strategic importance until 1655. In 1807, during the Peninsular War , it was occupied by French troops. Alcántara lost all its importance in the 19th century when

390-464: The friars were opposed, and he retired with John of Avila into the mountains of Arrábida in Portugal , where he joined Friar Martim de Santa Maria in a life of eremitical solitude. Soon, though, other friars came to join him, and several little communities were established. Peter was chosen guardian and Master of novices at the friary of Palhais, Barreiro . In 1560 these communities were erected into

416-517: The image of the female saint in popular imagination had become similar to that of the witch . Both witches and female saints were suspected of flying through the air, whether in saintly levitation or bilocation, or in a Witches' Sabbath . Levitation is a practice often described in Islamic literature from antiquity until well into the medieval era. Revered prophets and Islamic saints are said to have flown. Those named as capable of "flight" have included

442-455: The order's properties were secularized. Its depopulation was halted only in the 1960s, when the electric company Hidroelectrica Espaňola built several plants here. However, its economy was not boosted, and the town is still part of one of the less developed areas of Spain. The Order of Alcántara , a religious and military order, was established in the town in 1176 for defence against the Moors, and

468-625: The people. Peter of Alcantara is the patron saint of nocturnal adoration of the Blessed Sacrament . In 1826, he was named patron saint of Brazil , and in 1962 (the fourth centenary of his death), of the Spanish region of Extremadura . He is also venerated as patron saint of various parishes in the United States and the Philippines. The town of San Pedro de Alcántara in the province of Málaga

494-402: The spot in question (thus accepting the claim that Simon Magus could indeed fly), claims that Paul was also present, and that a dented slab of marble that it contains bears the imprints of the knees of Peter and Paul during their prayer. In recent times, John of Shanghai and San Francisco was said to be levitating while in prayer; an individual witnessed this when checking in on him while he

520-674: The tenderest human sympathy. At the time Peter entered the Order, the reform of the "Discalced Friars" consisted of the Custody of the friaries in Spain and Santa Maria Pietatis in Portugal, all subject to the Minister General of the Observants . In 1538 Peter was made minister provincial of the Franciscan province of St Gabriel of Estremadura but resigned when his plans to enforce severe rules among

546-422: Was a letter from Peter (dated April 14, 1562) that encouraged her to found her first monastery at Avila, August 24 of that year. Teresa's autobiography is the source of much of our information regarding Peter's life, work, the gift of miracles and prophecy. According to Teresa of Ávila, it was a very common thing for him to take food only once in three days, and that sometimes he would go a week without eating. He

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572-503: Was a man of remarkable austerity and poverty who travelled throughout Spain preaching the Gospel to the poor. He wrote a Treatise on Prayer and Meditation , which was considered a masterpiece by Teresa, Francis de Sales and Louis of Granada . While in prayer and contemplation, he was often seen in ecstasies and levitation . In his deathbed, he was offered a glass of water which he refused, saying that "Even my Lord Jesus Christ thirsted on

598-464: Was in prayer. George of Drama was also seen levitating during the Divine Liturgy . Francis of Assisi is recorded as having been "suspended above the earth, often to a height of three, and often to a height of four cubits " (around 1.3 to 1.8 m). Alphonsus Liguori , when preaching at Foggia , was lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground. Catherine of Siena

624-556: Was set as October 19, the day after his death, because in the General Roman Calendar October 18 was the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist . The 1969 revision of that calendar omitted his name because of what it saw as the limited importance of the feast on a worldwide level, while at the same time it expressly envisaged its inclusion in local calendars. His feast could thus be moved to his day of death, October 18, which

650-473: Was similarly said to be levitating while in prayer, and a priest claimed to have seen the Holy communion flying from his hand straight to Catherine's mouth. Flying or levitation was also associated with witchcraft . When it came to female saints, there was a certain ambivalence expressed by theologians, canon lawyers , inquisitors , and hagiographers towards the powers that they were purported to have. By 1500,

676-529: Was suppressed in 1835. In 1499, Peter of Alcántara , teacher of Theresa of Ávila , saint and Franciscan reformer, was born here. Flying saints The levitation of saints is the ability attributed to a saint to fly or to levitate . Most of these "flying saints" are mentioned as such in literature and sources associated with them. The ability to levitate was attributed to figures in Early Christianity . The apocryphal Acts of Peter gives

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