𝘚𝘵. 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩.

During the 13th century, there remained parts of Italy attached to an old heresy known as Catharism. Peter of Verona’s parents were among the many adherents to this heresy, which among other errors denied the oneness of the Blessed Trinity.

Eventually Peter met St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (later called Dominicans), and joined his new religious order. Peter was a brilliant preacher, but also had a deep knowledge of the faith and was appointed as an “inquisitor” by the pope.

He preached throughout Italy, trying to root out these wayward beliefs and bring people back into the fold of the Catholic Church. His particular role as a defender of the faith attracted many enemies as well, who did not want him taking people away from Catharism.

The Catholic Encyclopedia narrates what happened next.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 [𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴] 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘹𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 [𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥], 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴: “𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘶𝘮”. [𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥] 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.

Soon afterwards his murderer renounced his heretical beliefs and joined the Dominicans in their mission and led a life of holiness for the rest of his life.

St. Peter of Verona, sometimes known as Peter Martyr, was the first Dominican martyr to be canonized a saint.

Source: Fear Not