September 9 is the Feast of St. Peter Claver, one of the great missionary saints of modern times, whose life deserves to be better known than it is today. Born in Catalonia in 1581, Saint Peter studied at the University of Barcelona and entered the Jesuits at age 20. He spent 40 years working among the slaves in Cartagena, Colombia, where he fought for humane treatment and converted as many as 300,000 slaves to Christianity. For his efforts, he has become known as the "Slave of the Slaves."
Today, the Americas, both South and North, are in as much need of missionary efforts as they were in St. Peter Claver's time. And so I have chosen this Prayer to St. Peter Claver as our novena of the week.
If you have a favorite novena that you'd like me to choose as Novena of the Week, or if you'd like me to suggest a novena for a particular intention, send me an e-mail, and I'll work it into the rotation.