---
title: "St. Peter Claver: Feast Day September 9 · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/saints/st-peter-claver/
description: "St. Peter Claver, Priest, patron of enslaved peoples and race relations. Feast day September 9, died 1654. Read their life in Bless."
---

Priest · Feast day September 9

# St. Peter Claver

The feast day of St. Peter Claver is September 9, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of enslaved peoples and race relations.

|  |  |
|---|---|
| Feast day | [September 9](https://blessbible.app/saints/september/#9) |
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Priest |
| Died | 1654 |
| Patron of | [enslaved peoples](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#enslaved-peoples), [race relations](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#race-relations) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | [Thursday, September 9, 2027](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-peter-claver/#calendar) |

## Life

A Catalan Jesuit who landed at Cartagena, the great slave port of the Americas, and vowed himself the slave of the Africans forever. For thirty-eight years he met every slave ship with food, medicine, and catechists.

He baptized, by his brothers’ count, some three hundred thousand souls, defended their marriages, and visited their plantations, sleeping in slave quarters. Neglected in his last illness by the very house he had served, he died in 1654; Cartagena buried him like a king.

## Patron of

Tradition invokes St. Peter Claver as patron of enslaved peoples and race relations.

[Enslaved peoples](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#enslaved-peoples) [Race relations](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/#race-relations)

Patronages are traditional, not an official list. [All patron saints in Bless, A to Z](https://blessbible.app/patron-saints/).

## In the calendar

The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. Peter Claver. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.

| Date | In the US calendar | Color | Mass readings (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Thursday, September 9, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/09/09/) | St. Peter Claver, Priest (Memorial) | White | Colossians 3:12-17 · Psalm 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 · 1 John 4:12 · Luke 6:27-38 |
| [Saturday, September 9, 2028](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2028/09/09/) | St. Peter Claver, Priest (Memorial) | White | 1 Corinthians 4:6b-15 · Psalm 145:17-18, 19-20, 21 · John 14:6 · Luke 6:1-5 |

Readings

Later citations were computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

[September 8 St. Adrian of Nicomedia](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-adrian-of-nicomedia/) [September 10 St. Nicholas of Tolentino](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-nicholas-of-tolentino/)

[All the saints of September](https://blessbible.app/saints/september/) [Born on September 9?](https://blessbible.app/saints/birthday/#09-09) [A saint for every day](https://blessbible.app/saints/)

Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? [Report an error](https://blessbible.app/support/#report) and we’ll fix it in the app and here.

St. Peter Claver

Feast day September 9

On this page

1. [Life](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-peter-claver/#life)
2. [Patron of](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-peter-claver/#patron)
3. [In the calendar](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-peter-claver/#calendar)

In the app

Bless shows a saint every day on its Today screen, with their life and their words. Free on iPhone.