Baptism Under Miraculous Circumstances In The Life Of St. Peter Claver

Today is the feast of St. Peter Claver.  In his life there’s an interesting account of how he baptized a slave girl named Augustina, who had died but came back to life after Claver arrived.  When she spoke to Claver, she told him that she had “come from journeying along a long road”, but that she was told: “Stop, you cannot go further.”  He learned, to the surprise of those who knew her, that she had never been baptized.  He baptized her, and she died a few minutes later.  It’s clear that she needed to be baptized to get to Heaven.

“The affair of the slave Augustina, who served in the house of Captain Vincente de Villalobos, was one of the strangest in the life of Claver… Andrade asserts  that ‘when Claver arrived she was dead’... His expression suddenly changed and he amazed everyone by crying aloud, ‘Augustina, Augustina.’ He sprinkled her with holy water, he knelt by her, and prayed for an hour. Suddenly the supposedly dead woman began to move… All fell on their knees. Augustina stared at Claver, and as if awakening from a deep sleep said, ‘Jesus… how tired I am!’ Claver told her to pray with all her heart and repent her sins, but those standing by, moved by curiosity, begged him to ask her where she came from. He did so, and she said these words: ‘I am come from journeying along a long road. It was a beautiful road, and after I had gone a long way down it I met a white man of great beauty who stood before me and said, ‘Stop, you cannot go further.’ I asked him what I should do, and he replied, ‘Go back the way you have come, to the house you have left.’ This I have done, but I cannot tell how.’ On hearing this Claver told them all to leave the room and leave him alone with her because he wished to hear her confession. He prepared her and told her that complete confession of her sins was of immense importance if she wanted to enter that paradise of which she had had a glimpse. She obeyed him, and as he heard her confession it became clear to Claver that she was not baptized. He straightway ordered water to be brought, and a candle and a crucifix. Her owners answered that they had had Augustina in their house for twenty years and that she behaved in all things like themselves. She had gone to confession, to Mass, and performed all her Christian duties, and therefore she did not need Baptism, nor could she receive it. But Claver was certain that they were wrong and insisted, baptizing her in the presence of all, to the great delight of her soul and his, for a few minutes after she had received the sacraments she died in the presence of the whole family.” (Fr. Angel Valtierra, Peter Claver: Saint of the Slaves, 1960, pp. 221-222)