Dutch Secret Agent

St. Peter Canisius, Dec. 21:  “Secret agent” for the Vatican! (Yes, cue the music, but not the lyrics, from the old TV show.) After the Council of Trent, the pope needed to deliver its decrees to bishops throughout Europe. His first envoy was robbed of the documents while traveling through hostile Protestant lands. So, Peter was chosen. He was a Jesuit, well-known and respected even by Protestants for the colleges that he had founded. He successfully carried the papers among his many books. However, decades before his dangerous mission, he had won the love of the German people by caring for victims of a plague. Although his feast is “an optional memorial,” he is also a Doctor of the Church.  St. Peter Canisius, pray for us that we may win hearts for Jesus by the way that we love.