In the year 1102, Peter was born near Vienne, France. At the age of 20, he joined the Cistercian Order, persuading his family to join as well. His two brothers and father joined the religious community of Bonneveaux alongside him, and his sister followed suit.
Ten years following his admission, Peter received a mission to establish a new home in the Swiss Tarantaise Mountains, close to Geneva. Here, he established a hospital that doubled as a lodging for tourists passing through the Alps.
After being named Archbishop of Tarantaise in 1142, he desired to resign from the position and continue living as a Cistercian monk, which was his greatest happiness. But at the behest of St. Bernard and the other monks in his order, he hesitantly agreed, perceiving their demands as God's will.
When he became bishop, he restructured the diocese and began offering lessons and food to the needy, a practice known as "May Bread" that lasted until the French Revolution in 1789. Throughout that time, he worked numerous miraculous healings.
After serving as archbishop for 13 years, it appears that he was never able to get rid of his yearning for the monastic life he left behind. He fled to a Cistercian abbey in Switzerland, where he pretended to be a lay brother, and stayed there for a year before being found out and ordered to return to Tarantaise by his superiors.
One of the few influential voices in the Church to publicly defend Pope Alexander's claim—even against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa—during the bitter dispute between the anti-pope Victor and the legitimate Pope, Alexander III, was St. Peter.
Pope Alexander III saw him as the perfect mediator between King Louis VII of France and Henry II of England because of his bravery, loyalty, and holiness. He died of an illness soon after meeting and unsuccessfully attempting to reconcile the two kings in Bellevaux, France, in 1175. In 1191, he was canonized.
Other Saints of the Day
Saint Wiro
Saint Desideratus
Saint Helladius of Auxerre
Saint Victor Maurus
Saint Maria Magdalen of Canossa