  PROLOGUE: 1. A Brief Overview of the Life of Saint Peter, Apostle, Martyr and First Pope Continued, Part 2 FEAST DAYS Beginning in the third and fourth centuries a Feast was celebrated in memory of Sts. Peter and Paul on the same day, although the day was not the same in the East as in Rome. The Syrian Martyrology of the end of the fourth century, taken from a Greek list of Saints from Asia Minor, gives Dec 28. as the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. In St. Gregory of Nyssa's work on St. Basil we learn of the same Feast. The Armenians celebrated the Feast but on Dec. 27. But the chief Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul was kept in Rome on June 29 as early as the third century. We know this the "Martyrologium Hieronyminanum": for June 29: "Romae via Aurelia natale sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, Petri in Vaticano, Pauli in via Ostiensi, utrumque in catacumbas, passi sub Nerone, Basso et Tusco consulibus" (ed. de Rossi--Duchesne, 84). The date 258 in the notices shows that from this year the memory of the two Apostles was celebrated on June 29 in the Via Appia ad Catacumbas (near San Sebastiano fuori le mura), because on this date the remains of the Apostles were translated there. Later, perhaps on the building of the church over the graves on the Vatican and in the Via Ostiensis, the remains were restored to their former resting-place: Peter's to the Vatican Basilica and Paul's to the church on the Via Ostiensis. In the place Ad Catacumbas a church was also built as early as the fourth century in honor of the two Apostles. From 258 their principal Feast was kept on June 29, on which date solemn Mass was held in the above-mentioned three churches from ancient times. Another Roman Feast falls on August 1 that of St. Peter's
Chains. This Feast was originally the dedication Feast of the church of
the Apostle, erected on the Esquiline Hill in the fourth century. The
church was rebuilt by Sixtus III
(432-40) at the expense of the Byzantine imperial family. Either the
solemn consecration took place on August 1, or this was the day of
dedication of the earlier church. In this church, which is still
standing [S. Pietro in Vincoli], were probably preserved from the
fourth century St. Peter's chains, which were greatly venerated, small
filings from the chains being regarded as precious relics. The
church thus early received the name in Vinculis, and the Feast
of August 1 became the Feast of St. Peter's Chains. The memory of both
Peter and Paul
was later associated also with two places of ancient Rome: the Via
Sacra, outside the Forum, where the magician Simon was said to have
been hurled down at the prayer of Peter and the prison Tullianum,
or Carcer Mamertinus, where the Apostles were supposed to have
been kept until their execution. At both these places, also, shrines of
the Apostles were erected, and that of the Mamertine Prison still
remains in almost its original form from the early Roman time. In his monumental gift to the Holy Catholic Church, The Liturgical Year, Vol. XII, Book
III, Dom Guéranger
tells us: SAINTS PETER AND PAUL APOSTLES "SIMON, son of John, lovest thou Me?" Behold the hour when the answer which the Son of Man exacted of the fisher of Galilee re-echoes from the seven hills and fills the whole earth. Peter no longer dreads the triple interrogation of his Lord. Since that fatal night wherein, after the first cockcrow, the prince of the Apostles had denied his Master, tears have not ceased to furrow the cheeks of the Vicar of Christ; at last the day has come when his tears shall be dried! From that gibbet to which, at his own request, the humble disciple has been nailed head downwards, his bounding heart repeats the protestation which, ever since the scene enacted on the brink of Lake Tiberias, has been silently wearing his life away: "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love Thee!" [St. John xxi 15-17] Sacred day, on which the oblation of the first of Pontiffs assures to the West the rights of supreme priesthood! Day of triumph, in which the effusion of a generous life-blood wins for God the conquest of the Roman soil; in which, upon the cross of His representative, the Divine Spouse concludes His eternal alliance with the queen of nations. This tribute of death was unknown to Levi; this dower of blood was never exacted of Aaron by Jehovah: for who is it that would die for a slave? The Synagogue was no bride! [Gal. iv 22-31] Love is the sign which distinguishes this age of the new dispensation from the law of servitude. Powerless, sunk in cringing fear, the Jewish priest could but sprinkle with the blood of victims substituted for himself the horns of the figurative altar. At once both Priest and Victim, Jesus expects more of those whom He calls to a participation in the sacred prerogative which makes him Pontiff for ever according to the order of Melchisedech [Ps. cix 4] "I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth,' thus saith He to these men whom He raised above Angels at the Last Supper; 'but I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard of My Father, I have made known to you. [St. John xv 15] As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love.' " [Ibid. 9] In the case of a priest admitted into partnership with the eternal Pontiff, love is not complete, except when it extends itself to the whole of mankind ransomed by the great Sacrifice. This entails upon him more than the obligation common to all Christians of loving one another as fellow-members of one Head; for, by his priesthood, he forms part of that Head, and by this very title charity should assume in him something in depth and character of the love which the Divine Head bears towards His members. But more than this: what if to the power he possesses of immolating Christ, to the duty incumbent on him of the joint offering of hilnself likewise in the secret of the Mysteries, the plenitude of the pontificate be added, imposing the public mission of giving to the Church the support she needs, that fecundity which the heavenly Spouse exacts of her? According to the doctrine expressed from the earliest ages by the Popes, the Councils and the fathers, the Holy Ghost adapts him to his sublime role by fully identifying his love with that of the Spouse, whose obligations he fulfills, whose rights he exercises. Then, likewise, according to the same teaching, there stands before him the precept of the Apostle; from throne to throne of all the bishops, whether of East or West, the Angels of the Churches pass on the word: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her." [Eph. v. 25, 26] Such is the Divine reality of these mysterious nuptials, that every age of sacred history has blasted with the name of adultery the irregular abandonment of the Church first espoused. So much is exacted by this sublime union, that none may be called to it who is not already abiding steadfast on the lofty summit of perfection; for a bishop must ever hold himself ready to justify in his own person that supreme degree of charity of which our Lord saith; "Greater love than this no man hath, that he lay down his life for his friends." [St. John xv 13] Nor does the difference between the hireling and the true shepherd end there [Ibid. x 11-18]; this readiness of the Pontiff to defend unto death the Church confided to him, to wash away even in his own blood every stain that disfigures the beauty of this bride [Eph. v 27], is itself the guarantee of that contract whereby he is wedded to this chosen one of the Son of God, and it is the just price of those purest of joys reserved to him. "These things have I spoken to you," saith our Lord, when instituting the Testament of the new Alliance, Mthat my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled." [St. John xv 11] If such should be the privileges and obligations of the bishop of each church, how much more so in the case of the universal Pastor! When regenerated man was confided to Simon, son of John, by the Incarnate God, his chief care was, in the first place, to make sure that he would indeed be the Vicar of His love [Amb. In Luc, x]; that, having received more than the rest, he would love more than all of them [St. Luke vii 4; St. John XXI 15]; that, being the inheritor of the love of Jesus for His Own who were in the world, he would love, as He had done, even to the end. [St. John xiii 1] For this reason Peter's Martyrdom is foretold in the Gospel immediately after our Lord has confirmed him in his office of chief Pastor of the flock; Pontiff-King, he must follow, even to the Cross, the supreme Ruler of the Church. [Ibid. xxi 18-22] The feasts of his two Chairs, that of Antioch and that of Rome, have recalled to our minds the sovereignty whereby he presides over the government of the whole world, and the infallibility of the doctrine which he distributes as food to the whole flock; but these two feasts, and the primacy to which they bear witness in the sacred cycle, call for that completion and further sanction afforded by the teachings included in today's festival. Just as the power received by the Man-God from His Father [St. Matt. xxviii 18] and the full communication made by Him of this power to the visible Head of His Church had for their end the consummation of glory, the one object of the thrice-holy God in the whole of His work [St. John xvii 4] so likewise all jurisdiction, all teaching, all ministry here below, says St. Paul, has for end the consummation of the Saints, [Eph. iv 12] which is but one with the consummation of this sovereign glory; and the sanctity of the creature and the glory of God, Creator and Saviour, taken together, find their full expression only in the Sacrifice which embraces both Shepherd and flock in the same holocaust. It was for this final end of all pontificate, of all hierarchy, that Peter, from the day of Jesus' Ascension, traversed the earth. At Joppa, when he was beginning his apostolic labours, a mysterious hunger seized him: "Arise, Peter; kill and eat," said the Spirit; and at the same hour, in symbolic vision, were presented before his gaze all the animals of earth and all the birds of heaven. [Acts x 9-16] This was the Gentile world which he must join to the remnant of Israel on the Divine banquet-board. Vicar of the Word, he must share his vast hunger; his preaching, like a two-edged sword, will strike down whole nations before him; his charity, like a devouring fire, will assimilate to itself the peoples; realizing his title of Head, the day will come when as true Head of the world he will have formed (from all mankind, become now a prey to his avidity) the body of Christ in his own person. Then like a new Isaac, or rather, a very Christ, he will behold rising before him the mountain where the Lord seeth, [Gen. xxii 14] awaiting the oblation. The future has now become the present, and as on Good Friday we know what will take place. The scene is one of triumph, for on this occasion the crime of deicide is absent, and the odour of sacrifice rises from earth to Heaven as an odour of sweetness and joy. Divinized by virtue of the adorable Victim of Calvary, it might indeed be said, this day, that earth is able now to stand alone. Simple son of Adam by nature, and yet nevertheless true Sovereign Pontiff, Peter advances bearing the world; his own sacrifice is to complete that of the Man-God, with Whose dignity he is invested [Col. i 24]; inseparable from her visible Head, the Church likewise invests him with her own glory. [1 Cor. xi 7] When the Cross was lifted up on Good Friday, darkness fell at noon to hide her tears, but today she sings for joy of 'the beautiful light of eternity which floods with sacred fires this day which opens to the guilty a free path to Heaven.' [Hymn of Vespers] What more could she say of the Sacrifice of Jesus Himself? But this is because, by the power of this other cross which is rising up, Babylon becomes today the holy city. Although Sion is cursed for having crucified her Saviour, Rome can commit no crime that will prevail against the fact fixed for ever at this hour, even though she reject Christ and pour out the blood of His Martyrs in her streets like water. The cross of Peter has transferred to her all the rights of the Cross of Jesus; leaving to the Jews the curse, she now becomes the true Jerusalem. Such being the meaning of this day, it is not surprising that eternal Wisdom should enhance it still further, by joining the sacrifice of Paul to that of Peter. More than any other, Paul advanced by his preachings the building up of the body of Christ. [Eph. iv 13] If on this day holy Church has attained such full development as to be able to offer herself, in the person of her visible Head, as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, who better than Paul may deservedly perfect the oblation, furnishing from his own veins the sacred libation? [Col. i 24; 2 Cor. xii 15] The bride having attained fullness of age, his own work is likewise ended. [2 Cor. xi 2] Inseparable from Peter in his labours by faith and love, he will accompany him also in death; [Ant. Oct. Apost. ad Benedictus] both quit this earth, leaving her to the gladness of the Divine nuptials sealed in their blood, whilst they ascend together to that eternal abode wherein that union is consummated. [2 Cor. v] FIRST VESPERS After the great solemnities of the movable cycle and the feast of St. John the Baptist, none is more ancient, nor more universal in the Church, than that of the two princes of the Apostles. From the beginning Rome celebrated their triumph on the day which saw them go up from earth to Heaven, June 29. Her practice prevailed, at a very early date, over the custom of several other countries, which put the Apostles' feast towards the close of December. It was a beautiful thought which inspired the placing of these fathers of the Christian people in the cortege of Emmanuel at His entry into this world. But today's teachings have intrinsically an important preponderance in the economy of Christian dogma; they are the completion of the whole work of the Son of God; the cross of Peter fixes the Church in her stability, and marks out for the Divine Spirit the immutable centre of His operations. Rome was well inspired when, leaving to the beloved disciple the honour of presiding over his brethren at the crib of the Infant God, she maintained the solemn memory of the princes of the Apostles upon the day chosen by God Himself to consummate their labours and to crown both their life and the whole cycle of mysteries. Fully today do the heavens declare the glory of God, as David expresses it; today they show us the course of the Spouse completed on the eternal hills. [Ps. xviii 2-6] Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night revealeth the deep secret. [Ibid. 3] From north and south of the new Sion, from either side of her stream, Peter and Paul waft one to other, as a farewell song, as a sacred epithalamium, the good word [Ps. xliv 2]; sublime that echo, sonorous its power, still sounding throughout the whole earth [Ibid. xviii 4, 5], and yet to resound as long as the world lasts. These two torches of salvation blend their flames above the palaces of ancient Rome; the passing darkness of their death, that night of which the psalmist sings, now concentrates light for ever in the midst of the queen city. Beside the throne of the Bridegroom fixed for ever on the seven hills [Ibid. xliv 7, 10], the Gentile world, now become the bride, is resplendent in glory [Eph. v 27], all fair in that peerless purity which she derives from their blood, united to that of the Son of God. But we must not forget, on so great a day, those other messengers sent forth by the Divine householder, who watered earth's highways with their sweat and with their blood while they hastened the triumph and the gathering in of the guests invited to the marriage feast. [St. Matt. xxii 8-10] It is due to them that the law of grace is now definitely promulgated thoughout all nations, and that in every language and upon every shore the good tidings have been sounded. [Ps. xviii 4, 45] Thus the festival of St. Peter, completed by the more special memory of St. Paul his comrade in death, has been from earliest times regarded as the festival likewise of the whole apostolic college. In primitive times it seemed impossible to dream of separating from their glorious leader any of those whom our Lord had so intimately joined together in the responsibility of one common work. In course of time, however, particular solemnities were successively consecrated to each one of the Apostles, and so the feast of June 29 was more exclusively attributed to the two princes whose Martyrdom rendered this day illustrious. Moreover, the Roman Church, thinking it impossible fittingly to honour both of these on the same day, deferred till the morrow her more explicit praises of the doctor of the Gentiles. She thus became more free to concentrate the demonstrations of her devoted enthusiasm upon him whom even the Greek Church herself styles in every form, the corypheus of the blessed choir of Apostles. [Patres, Concil. et Liturg., passim.] ... Forward for citations from The Acts of the Apostles.  Contact-Us HOME----------------------------TRADITION www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/peters-primacy1b.htm |