Petar Perica

Who was Petar Perica?

Father Petar Perica was a Croatian Catholic priest, a member of the Jesuits, and the author of the Catholic hymns Zdravo Djevo and Do nebesa nek se ori.

He was born June 27, 1881 in Kotišina near Makarska. He finished elementary school in Makarska. He continued his education in 1895 in Travnik. After Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart in 1899, in Croatia an initiative was launched with the help of Perica intended to draw Croatian youth to dedicate themselves to the Sacred Heart. A brochure was released to this purpose, which included Perica's Do nebesa nek se ori, which remains one of the most popular Croatian liturgical songs. In 1900 a Croatian pilgrimage to Rome was held, during which Perica and Franjo Scholz gave to Pope Leo XIII an album containing the signatures of over 160,000 Croatian youth.

In 1901 Perica became a Jesuit. In October 1944, Perica was killed by Yugoslav Partisans on the small island of Daksa near Dubrovnik. A funeral was held for Perica, and his remains were buried in 2010.