Novena to St. Peregrine Laziosi

Peregrine was born around 1260 in Forli, Italy, into a family caught up in the political violence of the day; as a young man he was involved in a confrontation in which he reportedly struck St. Philip Benizi, then head of the Servite Order, who responded not with anger but by turning the other cheek. The encounter moved Peregrine to conversion, and he joined the Servites at Siena, later returning to found a house in his native Forli, where he lived a life of severe penance, including a habit of remaining standing for long periods. In later life he developed a cancerous growth on his leg that doctors judged required amputation; the night before the surgery, after long prayer before a crucifix, he had a vision of Christ reaching down and touching the diseased leg, and the next morning it was found healed. He died in 1345 and was canonized in 1726. Some modern calendars list his feast on May 4; May 1 is the more commonly cited date and is used here.

Biographical facts drawn from standard public-domain hagiography and widely corroborated historical accounts of the Servite Order; the exact circumstances of the healing (single night of prayer vs. a longer illness) are recounted with minor variation across sources.