Thursday of the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time

Saint Peter of Verona was born on October 29, 1205, in Verona, Italy, into a family thought to have sympathies with the Cathar heresy. Educated in the Catholic faith and later studying at the University of Bologna, he held firmly to orthodox belief and, while still young, encountered Dominic of Osma. Attracted by the fire of the Gospel, he entered the Dominican Order and became one of the most compelling preachers of his age, traveling widely through northern and central Italy to call sinners to conversion and to reconcile those drawn to heresy back to the Church. Appointed an inquisitor first for northern Italy and later for Lombardy, Peter was known for the severity of his own life, clarity of doctrine, and zeal for souls; he is also remembered for mercy toward those who confessed and sought to return. His preaching stirred such opposition that conspirators hired an assassin. On April 6, 1252, near Barlassina, he was struck down; tradition holds that with his dying strength he professed the Creed, writing “Credo” in his own blood. Miracles were soon reported, and he was canonized within a year. He is honored as patron of several towns, and his feast is kept on June 4.

Saint Quirinus was born in the lands of ancient Pannonia, and served as bishop of Sescia, today Sisak in Croatia, in the early years of the Church. Remembered even by early historians, he became a steadfast witness to Christ during the persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Arrested in 309, Quirinus was imprisoned for his faith, and tradition recalls that his calm courage moved even his jailer, Marcellus, to embrace Christianity. Brought before the governor Amantius and pressed to renounce the Lord, the bishop remained unshaken. He was condemned to death by drowning, cast into the river with a millstone bound to his neck, offering his life as a martyr rather than deny the Gospel he preached. The faithful recovered his body and honored him as a saint, and his relics were later carried to Rome, where devotion to him spread widely. He is especially honored as patron of San Quirino. His feast day is June 4.