WHEN PETER DE BASTO'S GUARDIAN ANGEL WOKE HIM

 

Ah, here we are again, the last day of the month dedicated to the holy souls. Something of a tradition on this blog is to write on Our Lady's intercession for the holy souls on this day, as I did here.  There was a young chap called Peter who left his native Portugal and was traveling to India. His boat got swept up in a tempest. So, Peter promised the Lord that if He saved him from drowning, he'd become a man of the cloth. When he arrived in Goa, he presented himself to the Jesuits there. 

But he'd been born in Portugal to a famous noble family - the Machados - so much so that they were known all the way over in India. When he introduced himself to the men he helped would be his religious superiors, he did not give his real last name for fear that his religious superiors would give him special privileges and attention because of his blue blood. Instead Peter gave the name of the town - de Basto - where he'd been baptized. Henceforth, all through the centuries that have followed he has been called "Peter de Basto". 

Peter offered the Rosary every day for the holy souls. But one day, the exception, he neglected to do so and that night he fell away to the land of nod. But his holy Guardian Angel woke him and said, "My son, the souls in Purgatory await the benefit of your daily alms." Peter took up his beads and gave the holy souls the prayers they had asked his Guardian Angel to offer to Our Lady. 

I'm struck that Peter offered a Rosary for them everyday, and not just during November when the attention is on praying for the dead. This is instructive for people like me who can be lazy in prayer, that we can offer the Rosary for the holy souls many more times in a year, maybe even a Rosary a day. In return, we may have their help and they may intercede for miracles of healing. 

I wish I had been able to post this sooner; but I had a big deadline, which, thank the angels and saints, I made. But I was a tad too exhausted to post more promptly. 

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This post was informed by Schouppe's Purgatory, Tan Books, 1986,  page 188 and also this fine website where I learned a great deal about the life of Peter de Basto. 

The picture accompanying this post was executed by Guido Reni and is in the public domain.