St. Peter of Alcantara experienced visions of the Blessed Mother during his childhood and was known for his devotion to the cross of Christ. After his ordination as a Franciscan priest he served for a time as a confessor of St. Teresa of Avila. From the time of his first Holy Mass, he was often found in ecstasy before the tabernacle. When approaching the divine mysteries, the saint lost all consciousness of things about him and prayed as though only he and Jesus existed. On account of his frequent ecstasies, wherever he traveled he was given a cell next to the chapel so that he might be near the high altar and pray there whenever he pleased...

The holiness of St. Peter of Alcantara is well illustrated in Chapter 38 of the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, in which St. Teresa relates that "... from none of the visions that I have seen have I ever gathered that any soul has escaped Purgatory save the souls of this Father [she does not identify this friar of her order], of the Dominican Father [P. Ibanez] and the saintly Fray Peter of Alcantara."

After his death St. Peter of Alcantara appeared to St. Teresa of Avila a number of times. Referring to the great austerities he had practiced, he exclaimed, "O blessed penance, which has secured for me so glorious a reward!"

Eucharistic Miracles
Joan Carroll Cruz