Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur (or Betancourt) y Gonzáles, OFB (, March 21, 1626– April 25, 1667), also called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt (Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur) or more simply Peter de Betancurt, Hermano Pedro (Brother Peter), Santo Hermano Pedro (Saint Brother Peter), or San Pedro de Vilaflor (Saint Peter of Vilaflor), was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala. Known as the "Saint Francis of Assisi of the Americas", he is the first saint native to the Canary Islands, is also considered the first saint of Guatemala and Central America for having done his missionary work in those American lands. He was the founder of Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem. Biography Betancourt was born at Vilaflor on the Island of Tenerife in 1626, one of the five children of Amador Betancourt, a descendant of Jean de Béthencourt, the French knight and explorer who conquered the Canary Islands for King Henry III of Castile (1402-1405), and of Ana Gonzáles Betancurt. It has recently been discovered that he also had Canarian aboriginal ancestors (Guanches). As a small child, he worked as a shepherd, caring for his family's small flock, their only source of income, but also spending some time praying in small cave in the arid region near the present-day town of El Médano (municipality of Granadilla de Abona). When the father's estate was seized by a moneylender in 1638 for failure to pay the family's debt, Betancourt was indentured to his service in recompense for the monies still due him. During this period, his eldest brother, Mateo, migrated to Spain's colonies in the New World, possibly settling in Ecuador. Of his life in Tenerife there are some anecdotal data, such as his stay in the famous cave that bears his name, located in El Médano in the south of the island, which Betancourt used as a refuge with his cattle during the winter, as a place of prayer and even as a hiding place to shelter from a pirate raid, so abundant on the Canary Islands coast in that time. In 1649, at age 23, Betancourt was freed from his period of servitude and decided to follow his brother's example. He set sail for Guatemala, the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala, in hopes of connecting with a relative engaged in government service there. He sailed to America leaving from the port of Santa