But Peter wanted to be a missionary. When he was 28, he learned of a new missionary order - the Marists - and he decided to join.
This society was entrusted with the evangelization of the Pacific Islands, and Fr. Chanel was among 20 Marists sent there. He and another priest were assigned to the volcanic island of Futuna, near Fiji, where no Christian missionary has ever set foot. Cannibalism was still practiced there, and the island was torn by warring factions.
Fr. Chanel learned the native language and customs, and because of his work among the sick and dying, he began to gain the people's trust.
But the tribal chief gradually felt threatened as more and more of his people put aside their idols for Christianity. When his son was baptized, the chief's anger toward Fr. Chanel increased.
On this date in 1841, the chief sent a band of warriors who entered the hut of Fr. Chanel, and killed him with clubs and knives. But martyrdom brings its own grace, and within a few months the whole island was Christian.
Peter Chanel was canonized in 1954. He is the first martyr in the South Seas and its patron saint.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw