St. Peter Chanel

St. Peter was the first martyr of Oceania. He was born at Cluet, France, to a peasant family and was ordained a priest in 1827. After serving for a time in a simple parish, he entered the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) in 1831 and was dispatched as a missionary to the Pacific. While in the Marshall Islands, he was murdered by a local chieftain. He was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII.  His feast is kept on April 28.