Peter of Africa

The Righteous Peter of Africa was, in the time of the emperor Justinian (527-565), the chief tax collector in Africa. He was a harsh man, without mercy. Once he threw a piece of bread at a beggar who kept asking him for alms. That night he saw himself in a dream as dead and saw the angels weighing his deeds on the scales of God's justice. On the pan of good deeds there was nothing but the bread thrown out of annoyance at the poor man, but even this stopped the pan of evil deeds from sinking. Peter understood the meaning of the dream, repented and changed his life entirely. He gave alms generously to those in need, fed and clothed many.

One day he saw Jesus Christ in a dream, clothed in the garment which the saint had once given to a beggar. Then Peter distributed his property to the poor and ordered one of his servants to sell him as a slave and give the money to the needy. The servant carried out the order. For many years Saint Peter worked without murmuring and with zeal for his master. Once some merchants who had known him before recognized him and told the master who his servant was. Hearing this, the saint left the city at once. As he left, he worked a miracle: the gatekeeper, a deaf and mute slave, receiving from the righteous Peter, in the name of Jesus Christ, the command to open the gate, carried it out and obtained at once hearing and speech. He ran to tell his master everything and added that from the saint's mouth, when he commanded the gate to be opened, a fire came out and touched his face, after which he began to hear and speak. All set out to look for Peter, but in vain: the saint had hidden and until his death remained unknown.

The life of Saint Peter was handed down by Saint John the Merciful, patriarch of Alexandria (commemorated on 12 November), who in turn learned it from a man who had known the saint personally. The Righteous Peter is commemorated on 5 October, in the new style.