Patron Saint of Cancer Patients
Saint Peregrine Laziosi (1260–1345) was an Italian Servite friar from Forlì whose veneration as patron of cancer patients arose from a tradition that an aggressive tumor on his foot was healed the night before scheduled amputation. Today he is widely invoked by those undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious chronic illnesses, and by their families.
Prayer
O God, who gave to St. Peregrine an Angel for his companion, the Mother of God for his teacher, and Jesus for the physician of his malady, grant, we beseech you through his merits, that we may on earth intensely love our holy Angel, the Blessed Virgin Mary and our Savior, and in their company praise them forever in heaven. Glorious wonder-worker, St. Peregrine, you answered the divine call with a ready spirit, and forsook all the comforts of a life of ease and all the empty honors of the world to dedicate yourself to God in the Order of His holy Mother. Obtain for us the grace of being, like you, dead to all earthly things and pleasures, and of placing all our hopes in our heavenly home. Amen.
Traditional novena: 9 days.
Why Saint Peregrine is invoked for cancer
The tradition holds that as Peregrine grew older a cancerous lesion (variously described in sources as a tumor or canker) developed on his right foot, deteriorating to the point that amputation was scheduled. The night before the surgery, Peregrine spent the night in prayer before a crucifix in the chapter house of his Servite community at Forlì. According to the early hagiographies, he received a vision of Christ touching his foot, and the lesion was found healed in the morning. Because the disease was identified specifically as a malignant growth — what would today be called cancer — Peregrine became, particularly from the 18th century onward, the patron specifically invoked by those suffering from that disease.
How the novena is prayed
The traditional novena to Saint Peregrine is prayed over nine consecutive days. Each day the petitioner reflects briefly on Peregrine's healing, recites the prayer above, names the person and intention for whom they pray (commonly someone undergoing diagnosis, treatment, or recovery), and concludes with the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be. Some forms add a daily reading from the Passion narratives, in keeping with the Servite spirituality of meditation on the suffering of Christ.
Major shrines
The principal shrine to Saint Peregrine is the Basilica of San Pellegrino Laziosi in Forlì, Italy, where his incorrupt body is venerated. In the United States, the National Shrine of Saint Peregrine is at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago, Illinois, operated by the Servite friars; weekly healing services and Masses for the sick are held there. Other notable Servite-run Peregrine shrines exist in Mission Hills, California, and Toronto, Ontario.