fragments of an attempted writing.

because st. peter claver has long evoked many questions and some sentiments, or something like that....

There are so many interesting tidbits in the life of St. Peter Claver.  Among them that the ex-slave hired to care for him at the end of his life beat him and starved him.  Those ungrateful lumpenproletariat - what can you do?  I am simultaneously repulsed and compelled by various aspects of Claver's hagiography.  The whole Apostle to the Blacks moniker has a racist "magical Jesuit" ring to it.  At the same time, given the conditions and "truths" of his age, it is hard not to view St. Peter as an amazing anomaly of sanctity and decency.   That the powerful men who had not cared for his annoying presence when he was alive buried him "with pomp and ceremony" reminds me of the famous Dorothy Day line - don't make me a saint; I don't want to be dismissed so easily.


I like that they picked anarcho-syndicalist colors for the above stamp.  


St. Peter Claver as lighter skinned brother bringing the White Man's God, or something like that.  I do like this series of paintings - they could use a bit more of a Caribbean folk art aesthetic, but I'll take this.

1 comment:

  1. Hmm, something is always missing in his biographies,or in most histories of Cartagena de Indias.

    I can't quite put my finger on it though...

    Hezekiah Garrett

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