The Shrines

A rebellious and violent young man, Peregrine was once a member of a street gang in the later part of the thirteenth century in Forti, Italy. When a Servite priest came to Forti to preach peace and reconciliation. Peregrine heckled the priest and physically attacked him. The priest, Father Philip, instead of striking back, forgave his attacker. Peregrine was so deeply moved by this act of forgiveness, that he eventually became a Catholic and entered the Servite order himself. Like St. Paul he was converted and his life truly changed. He spent the next fifty years ministering to the poor, the sick and the homeless. He developed cancer of the leg and the evening before the operation to amputate his leg Peregrine prayed before an image of the crucified Christ. When he awoke the next morning, he found that his leg had been healed and the cancer was gone! A miraculous event. He lived twenty more years and died in 1345 at the age of eighty five. He was declared a Saint in 1725. Peregrine is the patron of those who suffer from cancer and HIV/AIDS. In the early 1960’s the Shrine to St. Peregrine was built at the entrance of the Shrine where the present Hall of Saints in located. In 1986 the statue was moved to the lower grounds. After a fire at this area in 1994, the statue was placed in a new gazebo structure. This provides a place for quiet reflection and prayer.

Prayer to St. Peregrine

Oh great St. Peregrine, you who have been called “The Mighty” and “The Wonder-Worker” because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have recourse to you. For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fiber of our being, and who had the recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favored with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of these sick persons whom we entrust to you. Aided in this way by your powerful intercessions, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His goodness and mercy. Amen.