Saint Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur

Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur (or Betancourt) y Gonzáles, OFB (Spanish: Pedro de San José de Betancur y Gonzáles, 21 March 1626– 25 April 1667), also called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt (Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur) or more simply Peter de Betancurt, Hermano Pedro (Brother Peter), Santo Hermano Pedro (Saint Brother Peter), or San Pedro de Vilaflor (Saint Peter of Vilaflor), was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala. Known as the "Saint Francis of Assisi of the Americas", he is the first saint native to the Canary Islands. He left at the age of 23 for New Spain, and is considered the first saint of Guatemala and Central America for having done his missionary work in those American lands. He was the founder of Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem. Betancourt was born at Vilaflor on the Island of Tenerife in 1626, one of the five children of Amador Betancourt, a descendant of Jean de Béthencourt, the French knight and explorer who conquered the Canary Islands for King Henry III of Castile (1402-1405), and of Ana Gonzáles Betancurt. In the 21st century it was learned that he had indigenous Guanche ancestry as well. As a small child, he worked as a shepherd, caring for his family's small flock, their only source of income. He also prayed in a small cave near the present-day town of El Médano (municipality of Granadilla de Abona). When the father's estate was seized in 1638 by a moneylender for failure to pay debt, Betancourt was indentured to the man's service. During this period, his eldest brother, Mateo, migrated to Spain's colonies in the New World, possibly settling in Ecuador. There are anecdotes about Betancourt's life in Tenerife, such as his practice of staying in a cave in El Médano in the south of the island. He used it as a seasonal winter refuge with his cattle, a place of prayer, and a shelter from pirates, who frequently raided the Canary Islands coast.