St. Peregrine Laziosi

Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, California

St. Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345) was a member of the Servite order noted for his piety and indifference to physical comforts. The lesion on the leg of this statue refers to a miracle related in his vita (Acta Sanctorum, April vol. 3, 838). The leg had developed a cancer that festered so badly none of his brother monks could come near the smell. A doctor advised that the leg must be removed or the disease would spread throughout his body. On the eve of the surgery, however, Peregrine prayed to Jesus to cure him, and in the morning the leg was completely healed.

St. Peregrine's feast is on May 1. There is a brief biography in Butler, II, 211-12.

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Photographed at the mission by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.